Why gun sales in California spiked in 2016

2016 was a record-setting year for gun sales in California. More than 1.3 million guns were sold.
Handguns had a slight increase but the sale of long guns increased from 397,231 in 2015 to 1.33 million. In July 2016, California lawmakers passed legislation outlawing rifles equipped with what is called “bullet buttons” that allow for fast reloading. The ban did not take effect until Jan. 2017.
The chart below shows the total number of transactions processed by the California Departmen