A slate of new laws that went into effect on Jan. 1 reflect the trials of the previous year, when wildfires, the pandemic and criminal justice reform were top of mind for many Californians.

Of the hundreds of bills that were signed into law, many won’t be enacted until later this year. Starting in July, Californians will be prohibited from buying more than one semiautomatic rifle in a 30-day period. Proposition 19, which narrowly passed in the fall, will require people who inherit property to use it as their primary residence or have its tax value reassessed starting in February. And a flavored-tobacco ban that was set to go into effect last week now probably won’t be adopted until at least 2022. Here’s a look at some of the laws that went into effect first thing in 2021. Read more