As of January 1, 2019, there are 2,516,836 known gun owners in California. That number more than doubled from 927,686 in 2008.
Becerra noted that agents are facing challenging and dangerous situations when enforcing the APPS program. He made several recommendations to further improve enforcement efforts including raising the salary and benefits for special agents. He said the department is experiencing difficulty recruiting and retaining special agents because of its “lagging salaries and incentives compared to other law enforcement agencies.”
