She now chairs the organization's Jack Berman Advocacy Center, which works in coalition with other groups to build safe neighborhoods, advocate for gun control and provide public education about safety issues.

Davis also dedicated the bill to Marilyn Merrill and Steven Sposato, whose spouses were killed during the 1993 killing spree. At the signing, the governor sawed in half a TEC-DC9, the weapon that was used in both the 1993 San Francisco shooting and this year's Columbine High shooting in Colorado.

He gave the spouses pens with which the bill was signed.

"Today any qualified person may walk into a gun store and buy an unlimited quantity of handguns," Davis said.

"This bill will block bulk purchases of handguns and limit the supply of guns for black-market sales. This law closes the loophole and enacts the toughest assault-weapons ban in the nation."