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2pdr Anti-Tank Gun
Despite the fact that several current California gun laws are being challenged in court, anti-gun Golden State lawmakers are carrying on undaunted.
Lawmakers recently finalized passage of two Senate bills and one Assembly bill, each placing new restrictions on lawful gun owners while doing little to address violent crime. All three have now gone to Gov. Gavin Newsom for his consideration.
According to the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action, the most egregious of the three is Senate Bill 948, which, if signed into law, will impose sweeping new firearm training requirements on Californians seeking a Firearm Safety Certificate.
“Senate Bill 948 dramatically expands California’s Firearm Safety Certificate (FSC) requirements by mandating a minimum four-hour training course beginning in 2029, including live-fire exercises and state-prescribed classroom instruction,” NRA-ILA wrote in a legislative update. “Criminal misuse of firearms is not the result of insufficient government mandates, yet this bill imposes additional regulatory burdens on law-abiding citizens while doing nothing to address crime.”
Under the enrolled version of the bill, beginning Jan. 1, 2029, applicants for an FSC would have to complete at least four hours of training within the previous year. That training would include classroom instruction covering firearm safety, California gun laws, storage, transportation and self-defense, along with live-fire exercises demonstrating safe handling and basic shooting proficiency.
SB 948 would also impose new requirements on people moving into California with firearms. Beginning Jan. 1, 2028, personal firearm importers would generally be required to obtain an FSC or qualify for an exemption and certify that status to the California Department of Justice.
The other Senate bill sent to the governor is SB 1220, which would add another misdemeanor to California’s list of offenses that trigger a 10-year firearm prohibition.
“Specifically, a person convicted of possessing, selling, transferring, or otherwise dealing with a firearm that has had its identifying marks or serial number altered,” NRA-ILA explained. “While existing law already makes it a misdemeanor to possess or transfer a firearm with such traits, this bill expands California’s ever-growing list of misdemeanor offenses that can result in the loss of constitutional rights.”
Under the bill, anyone convicted on or after Jan. 1, 2027, of the applicable misdemeanor involving a firearm with altered, removed or obliterated identifying marks would be prohibited from owning, purchasing, receiving or possessing a firearm for 10 years.
The lone Assembly measure to receive final approval and land on Newsom’s desk is Assembly Bill 1743. If signed, the bill would expand California’s firearm-owner data-sharing framework by increasing access to information maintained in the state’s Automated Firearms System and related databases.
“Expanding this system raises significant concerns given California’s track record of protecting firearm owner data,” NRA-ILA warned. “In 2022, the California Department of Justice exposed the personal information of thousands of firearm owners and concealed carry permit holders in a widely reported data breach.”
NRA-ILA is encouraging California members to contact Newsom’s office and urge him to veto all three measures. Given Newsom’s longstanding support for additional gun-control laws, however, a veto would come as something of a surprise.
Newsom has made gun control a prominent part of his political identity for years. As lieutenant governor, he spearheaded California’s Proposition 63 gun-control initiative, and as governor he has repeatedly signed legislation tightening the state’s firearm laws. In 2023, for example, he signed legislation imposing an additional 11% state tax on firearms and ammunition and another measure broadly restricting where Californians could legally carry firearms.
That history takes on additional significance as Newsom increasingly positions himself on the national political stage. He is widely discussed as a potential contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, although he has not formally announced a campaign.
Politically, that leaves little obvious incentive for Newsom to break with gun-control advocates by vetoing these bills. Signing them, meanwhile, is unlikely to cost him much support among gun owners who already oppose his record on the Second Amendment.
Ultimately, Newsom is likely to make his decision with both California politics and his broader national ambitions in mind. If he signs the bills into law, there’s also a good chance the courts haven’t heard the last of them—particularly SB 948 and its mandatory training requirement.
For almost 55 years, the Carcano served the Kingdom of Italy. When it was adopted in 1891 as the country’s first smokeless-powder firearm, it was a cutting-edge design that defined the modern service rifle. It went on to fight in World War I, and it carried the country from the disaster of Caporetto in 1917 to the triumph of Vittorio Veneto in 1918. A generation later, Carcano-equipped Italian troops fought for the Axis. Then, after the Armistice of Cassibile and the Badoglio Proclamation in September 1943, the Italians did some fighting for the Allied cause. Through it all, the Carcano provided the Kingdom of Italy with an effective bolt-action magazine repeater that evolved over the course of the half century it served.
Production began in 1891 with the 50.6″-long Fucile di Fanteria (infantry rifle), but then in July 1893 the much handier 36.25″-long Moschetto Modello 1891 was adopted. Easily recognizable by virtue of its folding spike bayonet and side-mounted sling attachment points, this Carcano is sometimes referred to as the “cavalry carbine,” even though that is not its official designation.
Nevertheless, it was intended to be used by cavalry and bicycle infantry units. In 1898, the state arsenal at Brescia introduced another Carcano model in the form of the Moschetto Modello 1891 per Truppe Speciali—sometimes referred to as the “TS” carbine. With the same mass and overall length as the standard Moschetto Modello 1891, the TS differed mainly because of its full-length stock and handguard, as well as a distinctive transverse bayonet lug on the stock endcap.
These guns were issued to non-infantry troops who did not have a pressing need for a full-length rifle. Brescia concluded production of the TS carbine in 1904 but then resumed it in 1911. By the time that production block reached its end in 1920, the transverse bayonet lug had been replaced by a conventional bayonet lug designed to accommodate the 11.5″ Model 1891 bayonet.
In the years immediately following the First World War, with demand for the lightweight and handy TS carbine at an all-time high, the state arsenals began cutting down full-length 1891 rifles to the shorter barrel length as a stopgap measure to increase the inventory of TS carbines. This would ultimately lead to the state arsenals at Fabbrica d’Armi R.E. Gardone Val Trompia and Fabbrica d’Armi R.E. Terni commencing new production of a modified TS in 1928—one equipped with the short carbine adjustable rear sight assembly and the standard bayonet lug.
Soon thereafter, production of the modified TS carbine expanded when five private enterprises began manufacturing it. Beretta led the way in 1929, and then the following year Fabbrica Bresciana d’Armi Lorenzotti Pietro, Napoleone E Vittorio Castelli Brescia and Manifattura Bresciana Tempini (MBT) entered production.
In 1931, so did Fabbrica Nationale d’Armi – Brescia. Out of the five private manufacturers, Beretta made the largest number of TS carbines at 108,000, with MBT turning out the smallest number with a mere 3,700—all of which came off the assembly line in 1930.
Like the examples that came from the other commercial manufacturers, MBT’s TS carbine incorporates all the features that made Salvatore Carcano’s original design so successful. It is a cock-on-open, manually operated bolt-action repeater with a split receiver bridge that utilizes the Mannlicher-style internal magazine and an omnidirectional six-round en bloc clip.
It also uses a one-piece bolt body with two horizontally opposed locking lugs and a thumb-actuated manual safety that de-cocks the striker. It weighs 6 lbs., 13 ozs., and is equipped with a 17.95″ barrel chambered for the 6.5×52 mm Italian rimless, bottleneck cartridge. It is equipped with the short carbine rear sight assembly that provides a fixed 300-meter battle sight and a tangent adjustable from 600 to 1,500 meters.
After World War II, these guns continued to serve the Italian military for many years and then armed the Carabinieri national paramilitary police. Before COVID, thousands of former Carabinieri TS carbines were imported into the United States for sale to collectors. The 1930-made example shown here, in its current condition, would fetch about $700 on the collector market.
Gun: Carcano Moschetto Modello 1891 per Truppe Speciali (TS) Carbine
Manufacturer: Manifattura Bresciana Tempini (MBT)
Chambering: 6.5×52 mm Italian
Serial No.: MB2949
Manufactured: 1930
Condition: NRA Very Good (Modern Gun Standards)
Value: $700
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