State Senate Democrats on Thursday finalized a package of 10 gun-control bills they will pursue this year, and received backing for the measures from the mayors of Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Among the bills, Sen. Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) called for outlawing possession of large-capacity ammunition magazines over 10 rounds. The sale of such magazines had been banned, but Hancock said some possessors of the clips have been able to escape prosecution by claiming they were purchased before the law was changed. 

Senate President Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) proposed a ban on the future sale, purchase and manufacture in California of semi-automatic rifles that can accept detachable magazines. "The truth of the matter is that we can save many lives by curbing the proliferation of rapid-fire weapons," Steinberg told reporters at the Capitol. "We can save lives by getting guns out of the hands of people who should not have them."

The latest gun bills are in response to the December killing of 20 children and six adults by a gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Other measures would boost funding for efforts to confiscate guns from people convicted of felonies and require anyone buying ammunition to get a permit and undergo a background check.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee joined the legislators at a Capitol news conference to endorse the additional gun controls. "This Senate package builds on California’s strong record and takes the next step with smart policies that close loopholes that have remained open for too long," Villaraigosa said.

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-- Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento

Photo: Senate leader Darrell Steinberg is shown a semi-automatic rifle during a recent legislative hearing on gun violence. Credit: Steve Yeater / Associated Press

 

A self-described tea party Republican lawmaker is testing the fundraising waters for a possible California gubernatorial bid.

Assemblyman Tim Donnelly (R-Twin Peaks) sent supporters an email Thursday asking them to contribute to his exploratory campaign and weigh in on his potential candidacy via Facebook.

"As recent as two years ago, if you had asked me if I would ever consider running for governor, I would have called you crazy," the lawmaker wrote. "A lot has changed."

A former member of the volunteer border patrol group known as the Minutemen, Donnelly was elected in 2010 on an anti-illegal immigration platform. Known for his bombastic style, the lawmaker has become one of the Legislature's most ardent supporters of gun rights and recently introduced a proposal that would allow school districts to spend education funds to train teachers, administrators and janitors to use firearms.

He made headlines last year after being detained by police at Ontario International Airport when security screeners found a loaded pistol and an ammunition magazine in his briefcase. Donnelly called the incident an "honest mistake," saying he had simply forgotten the firearm was in his bag.

So far Donnelly has the field to himself. His bid, however, poses a challenge for California Republicans, who have signaled a desire to soften the party's harsh rhetoric on issues such as immigration after years of self-inflicted wounds and declining voter registration numbers. With Democrats holding supermajorities in both houses of the Legislature, the party has been pushed to the sidelines in the Capitol.

On Thursday, Donnelly asked his supporters to help him shape his agenda.

"Ever since I was elected to the State Assembly two years ago, I've had the chance to see firsthand how our state's leaders have abandoned the dreams of ordinary Californians, mocked our cherished values, and extinguished the spirit of freedom," he wrote. "All it takes is an irate minority to change the course of history."

As of Thursday afternoon, his Facebook page had 2,975 "likes." State records show he received a single $1,000 donation after announcing his exploratory committee last year.

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-- Michael J. Mishak in Sacramento

Photo: Assemblyman Tim Donnelly (R-Twin Peaks) at the Capitol. Credit: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times

This post has been updated. See below for details.

Gov. Jerry Brown must explain to a federal court by the end of Wednesday how he plans to fit 9,000 inmates currently housed in out-of-state facilities back into California lockups.

U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton directed California to explain in writing its exact plan to stop sending inmates to private prisons as far as Mississippi. The administration announced its intention to return the inmates months ago, at the same time it also seeks an end to court-ordered prison population caps.

Karlton's order requires California to stipulate the total number of inmates the state plans to return to California prisons from out-of-state facilities, the planned timetable for their return, and where the state plans to house those inmates. As of Jan. 30, according to state prison population reports, California had 8,852 inmates in four prisons run by Tennessee-based Corrections Corp. of America.

[Updated, 4:50 p.m. Feb. 6: Brown's lawyers filed papers late Wednesday afternoon arguing that the end of private prison contracts has no bearing on the delivery of mental health care to inmates, the core issue before Karlton.

[Nevertheless, California said its 4,527 inmates will finish their prison terms out of state. An average of 110 inmates are paroling out of those prisons each month.The remaining 4,325 will be returned in stages through June 30, 2016.

["The gradual return of these inmates will allow the state to avoid bunking inmates in prison gymnasiums or other makeshift housing units again," state lawyers told the court.]

A three-judge panel that includes Karlton recently gave California an extra six months, until December 2013, to reduce its prison crowding to 137.5% of design capacity. The state has said it expects to be over that mark even without the return of out-of-state prisoners. Brown contends further reductions are not necessary and in January he issued an executive order claiming the 2006 "emergency proclamation" that allowed prisoners to be moved against their will is terminated, as of this coming July.

Karlton's order for more information did not come out of the three-judge panel, but was delivered in Coleman vs. Brown, the class-action lawsuit over mental health care for inmates. Along with a general bid to lift court-ordered prison caps, Brown's lawyers filed a motion seeking to terminate that case. Karlton has set a March hearing.

In the interim, he ordered Matthew Lopes, the special master overseeing inmate mental health care, to produce as quickly as possible a report detailing inmate suicides for the first half of 2012. Lopes recently filed his annual report on the status of prison mental health care, raising concerns over what he said is a climbing suicide rate in California prisons.

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 --Paige St. John in Sacramento