A.M. Splash: Gun Control Gains Steam in Calif.; Reeling CCSF Announces Layoffs, Pay Cuts

California has the most restrictive gun laws in the United States, but in the wake of the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., lawmakers and other leaders are proposing ways to make it more difficult to own and use firearms here. On Tuesday, one Democratic lawmaker said he will propose a bill to require Californians to obtain a permit and undergo background checks before purchasing any ammunition in the state. Another said he will introduce a measure to require annual registration and background checks for every gun owner. And a Republican lawmaker said he wants to bar gun ownership permanently for anyone deemed by a court to be a danger to others because of mental health problems.

With Democrats promising to beef up federal gun laws, the renewed gun-control debate sparked by the horrific slayings in a Connecticut elementary school is beginning to play out in Congress. But a new survey of California's next congressional delegation signals the stark divide ahead: Calls for immediate and vigorous action on one side, and mostly silence on the other. An exclusive survey of California members of the next Congress, undertaken by the Bay Area News Group and the Los Angeles News Group, found that all of the 32 House Democrats who responded support re-enacting some version of the federal assault weapons ban that expired in 2004, and many would consider more stringent new gun controls.

Marin County officials, reacting to the horrific murder of children at a Connecticut elementary school, will hold a gun buy-back program on Jan. 15, the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. "Let's do something more than just talk," District Attorney Ed Berberian urged the Board of Supervisors, calling on residents to "turn in their reservoir of guns that are really not needed in our county."

San Jose City College went into lockdown Tuesday evening after reports of a gunman on campus. Officials canceled classes, the police closed Moorpark Ave. to traffic and some students and faculty were stuck inside buildings for two hours or more as police officers conducted a floor-by-floor and room-by-room search for the gunman. They didn't find one. No one was reported hurt or injured. And despite the disruption, classes will resume Wednesday on their regular schedule.

In the latest blow to City College of San Francisco, the school that is fighting to remain open and accredited will lay off dozens of employees and cut salaries because far too few students are enrolling. City College needs about 3,000 full- and part-time students to register for the spring semester - and fast. If not, the school expects to lose $6.5 million in state funding, which is tied to enrollment.

Dozens of employees at the state Department of Parks and Recreation were inappropriately paid for working outside their job classification, according to an audit by the State Controller's Office released Tuesday. These "out-of-class" work assignments may have cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars beyond the misuse of funds at the department that has been previously reported.

After years of debate, San Jose is finally getting fluoride in its drinking water. A unanimous vote Tuesday by the Santa Clara Valley Water District endorsed a funding plan for the long-anticipated project for the largest city in the country without fluoridated drinking water. But it will take about two more years to finalize the details and retrofit local water plants to bring the additive aimed at saving children's teeth from decay to the city's taps.