What are the three California assault weapon classifications?
The original AWCA ’89 (“Roberti-Roos”) banned over fifty specific brands and models of firearms – while mostly rifles, some were pistols and shotguns. Many other similar models from other manufacturers existed at the time, these were not banned: AWCA ’89 banned only specifically named assault weapons. A few of these weapons, in fact, were not even pistol-gripped ‘ugly’ guns: for example, the Springfield Armory BM59 (essentially a Garand with detachable magazine), and the SKS with detachable magazine were both banned by this act. Yet these firearms are topologically similar to current California-legal detachable-magazine rifles like the M1A, Ruger Mini 14, and KelTec SU16. While the categories below have no real penal code significance in and of themselves, they are used as common terms of reference to describe various assault weapons. Category I assault weapons are those specifically named by make and model in Penal Code §12276 (and echoed in California Code of Regulation §979.10). The
