---
title: "This Company Is Taking Aim At California’s Gun Laws With A Brand New AR-15"
date: "2017-03-27"
modified: "2017-03-27"
authors:
  - name: "Jared Keller"
    job_title: "Former Managing Editor"
    link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/jaredkeller/"
url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/featureless-ar-15-california-gun-laws/"
categories:
  - "Around the World"
  - "Guns"
  - "News"
  - "Tech & Tactics"
  - "United States"
  - "Weapons"
---

# This Company Is Taking Aim At California’s Gun Laws With A Brand New AR-15

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/03/19039439-1.jpg>)

In 2016, California lawmakers made it significantly more difficult for citizens to possess their very own AR-15 assault rifle. Now, one firearms manufacturer wants to make it easier for Second Amendment devotees to flex their semi-automatic muscles.

[SB 880](<https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB880>), which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2017, mandates unregistered AR-15s come equipped with a fixed magazine system that forces owners to effectively take apart their rifle to remove and replace — a supposed curb on detachable magazines in [response](<https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-gun-control-bills-20160419-story.html>) to the deadly San Bernardino mass shooting in December 2015.

In response, weapons maker Springfield Armory [announced](<https://www.guns.com/2017/03/26/3055804/?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=58d8598604d3011e0f3f490a&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook>) last week that the company’s signature AR platform, the Saint, will go featureless, offering California residents a chance to own what’s effectively a fully functional AR-15 while avoiding the new registration requirements established by the state.

The company has developed custom Saint AR platforms for California gun enthusiasts in the past, but the new line is a big deal. Instead of resorting to modifying existing AR models with innovative upgrades like the Mean Arms MA Loader, California consumers now have a manufacturer on their side when it comes to dealing with the new law.

“I think it’s also important for our customers to know that we are developing a California compliant version of our Saint rifle,” Springfield sales and marketing chief Jeremy Rosenberg [told](<https://www.guns.com/2017/03/26/3055804/?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=58d8598604d3011e0f3f490a&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook>) Guns.com. “We are working with a couple of other partners and some other manufacturers to put together a very, very nice rifle that will still be California compliant as well.”

The original Saint, Springfield’s first attempt at building a better AR-15, was unveiled in early November 2016 and currently retails for around $899. The company showed off the California-compliant version of the rifle at January’s SHOT Show in Las Vegas, Nevada:

It’s unclear how much the featureless version of the platform will cost; the Stag Arms featureless AR, announced at the end of 2016, [starts at just over $1,000](<https://www.stagarms.com/ar15-featureless-rifles/>). But California residents are likely hoping it’ll be cheaper — or at least less hassle — than [shelling out a few hundred bucks](<https://www.thetrace.org/2016/08/california-assault-weapons-ban-ar15-compliance/>) to modify their existing arsenal.

## Author
Jared Keller is the former managing editor of Task & Purpose. His writing has appeared in Aeon, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the New Republic, Pacific Standard, Smithsonian, and The Washington Post, among other publications.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/jaredbkeller>)  
[Facebook](<https://www.facebook.com/jaredbkeller>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredbkeller/>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/jaredbkelller/>)