California: Immediate Action is Needed by All Gun Owners and Second Amendment Supporters

NINE Anti-Gun Bills Heading to the Senate Floor

Yesterday, May 16, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed and sent nine anti-gun bills straight to the Senate floor.  This move is of great concern not only for the egregious subject matter of the bills but because of the speed the bills are moving. Generally bills with a fiscal note that exceeds $150,000 are sent to the Suspense file for later consideration.  These bills meet that criteria but were still granted a pass to proceed.  Further, four of the bills covered a completely separate subject matter just two weeks ago and were only given policy consideration in a single chamber having passed the previous chamber under the original subject matter.  With this clearly expedited urgency, the bills could be considered on the floor and sent to the Governor within a matter of weeks if not days.

NOW IS THE TIME!

WE MUST send a clear message to the State Senate that regulating and restricting our constitutional freedoms will no longer be tolerated.

It’s CRUCIAL that EVERY law-abiding gun owner, sportsmen, and Second Amendment supporter contact their state Senator strenuously and respectfully urging him/her to OPPOSE SB 1235, AB 156, SB 1407, AB 857, SB 880, AB 1135, AB 1511, SB 894, and SB 1006.  Contact information can be found here or by clicking on the TAKE ACTION button below.

Senate Bill 1235 and Assembly Bill 156 would place unjustified and burdensome restrictions on the purchase of ammunition and would require the attorney general to keep records of purchases.  This legislation would further require any online ammunition sales to be conducted through a licensed vendor.  First and foremost, the reporting of ammunition sales has already been tried — and failed — at the federal level.  Throughout the 1980s, Congress considered repeal of a federal ammunition regulation package that required, among other things, reporting of ammunition sales.  In 1986, the director of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms supported eliminating the reporting requirement, stating: “The Bureau and the [Treasury] Department have recognized that current record keeping requirements for ammunition have no substantial law enforcement value.”  As a result, the Firearms Owners Protection Act of 1986 repealed the ammunition restrictions, with little opposition to the removal of that requirement.  SB 1235 and AB 156 will similarly fail to reduce violent crime, as a law requiring honest citizens to register each and every ammunition purchase plainly will not deter criminals.   One last note, Governor Brown has twice vetoed similar legislation.

Senate Bill 1407 and Assembly Bill 857 would require an individual to request a serial number from DOJ for home-built firearms.  Anti-gun advocates are under the impression that criminals will apply for a serial number issued from DOJ prior to use.  This bill would do nothing but entrap law-abiding citizens exercising their Second Amendment rights.  Governor Brown vetoed similar legislation in 2014.

Senate Bill 880 and Assembly Bill 1135 would make changes of monumental scale to California’s firearm laws by reclassifying hundreds of thousands of legally owned semi-automatic rifles as “assault weapons.”    These are constitutionally protected firearms that have no association with crime.  These changes would happen quickly with great individual costs to many gun owners and no public notice.  Governor Brown vetoed similar legislation in 2013.

Assembly Bill 1511 would effectively end the long-standing practice of temporarily loaning a firearm for lawful purposes. Under this legislation the ability to loan a firearm to anyone other than a family member or a person who is in the field hunting would now be prohibited unless conducted through a dealer.  The result of the misguided legislation would turn otherwise law-abiding citizens into criminals simply for borrowing or storing a firearm.

Senate Bill 894 would require a victim of a crime to report to local Law Enforcement the theft of a firearm within an arbitrary time requirement of five days and the recovery of the firearm within 48 hours.  Governor Brown has twice vetoed similar legislation stating, “I was not convinced that criminalizing the failure to report a lost or stolen firearm would improve identification of gun traffickers or help law enforcement disarm people prohibited from possessing guns. I continue to believe that responsible people report the loss or theft of a firearm and irresponsible people do not.”

Senate Bill 1006 would enact a California Firearm Violence Research Act at the University of California and would declare legislative intent regarding the principles by which the university would administer the center and would appropriate taxpayer money to the Firearm Research Center Account.  Anti-gun lawmakers are attempting to fund potentially biased research with tax dollars.  Research that can later be used as a further assault on our Second Amendment rights.  Senator Huff called the bill a “sole source contract” for a constituent in senator Wolk’s district,   a researcher with a record of biased anti-gun research.   It is obvious that the research conducted under SB 1006 will not be favorable to law-abiding gun owners.

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Don’t forget to forward this alert to your family, friends, and fellow gun owners urging them to contact their state Senator and asking them OPPOSE the above reprehensible bills.

If you are not registered to vote, now is the time to do so!  Click here to register to vote, so you can support candidates who believe in your right to keep and bear arms.