As usual, the California Legislature has been working hard to rid the Golden State of ALL firearms and imitation firearms. Summer recess started last Friday, thus providing California gun owners and sportsmen with one month to spread the word and rally together to STOP anti-gun bills from passing before the Legislature returns on August 6. All of the following bills have passed in their houses of origin and have very few votes left in the legislative process to determine whether they pass or fail this year. Make no mistake, anti-gun extremists are working hard, so it is IMPERATIVE that ALL gun owners and sportsmen CALL, E-MAIL, WRITE and FAX their state legislators urging them to OPPOSE the bills described below. None of these bills will stop criminals from acquiring and misusing firearms, and will only affect law-abiding citizens who respect the law.
When the Legislature returns on August 6, these bills could come up for a vote at any time. Don't forget to forward this alert to your family, friends, fellow gun owners and sportsmen in California and ask them to contact their state legislators urging them to OPPOSE the following bills:
On the Assembly floor: Please contact your Assemblyman and urge him or her to OPPOSE SB 1315. Contact information can be found here.
Senate Bill 1315, introduced by anti-gun extremist state Senator Kevin de León (D-22), is just a stepping stone to completely destroying California’s firearms preemption law. Firearms preemption laws are in place to standardize firearm laws across the state. This critical law keeps law-abiding gun owners from being placed in jeopardy of running afoul of local restrictions they don`t even know exist simply because they have crossed from one municipality to another.
SB 1315 would authorize the County of Los Angeles to enact and/or enforce an ordinance or resolution that is stricter than state law regarding the manufacture, sale, possession or use of any BB device, toy gun, replica of a firearm, or other device that is so substantially similar in coloration and overall appearance to an existing firearm as to lead a reasonable person to perceive that the device is a firearm and that expels a projectile that is no more than 16 millimeters in diameter.
In the Assembly Appropriations Committee: Please contact members of the Assembly Appropriations Committee and urge them to OPPOSE SB 249, SB 1221 and SB 1366. Contact information for members of this committee can be found here.
Senate Bill 249: If you think it is hard to own and possess a semi-automatic firearm in California now, if SB 249 is enacted, it would ban the ownership and possession of AR-15s and other magazine-fed semi-automatic firearms that currently use "bullet buttons" or other tools to restrict the removal of the magazine. This anti-gun bill would also authorize civil and criminal penalties for possessing a "conversion kit."
This nonsensical bill, introduced by state Senator Leland Yee (D-8), would restrict any person from importing, making, selling, loaning, transferring or possessing magazine release components in semi-auto firearms (bullet button, etc). SB 249 would also make the possession of a "conversion kit" a public nuisance, authorize civil and criminal penalties and require surrendering the conversion kit. This bill would define a conversion kit as any combination of parts that, when affixed to a firearm with a fixed magazine, are designed and intended to convert that firearm into an “assault weapon” as defined in the bill. SB 249 has been amended several times and regardless of what this bill looks like in the end, SB 249 is a pure anti-gun bill and MUST BE DEFEATED.
Senate Bill 1221, introduced by state Senator Ted Lieu (D-28), would ban hunting bears and bobcats with dogs. Hunting with dogs is a tradition that continues to be practiced across the country. Many dog breeds with select characteristics for hunting can be traced back for thousands of years. Seventeen states allow bear hunting with dogs. The use of hounds for hunting has never been shown to have an adverse impact on wildlife numbers. Biologists and other wildlife experts determine regulations and bag limits, just as they do with other hunting seasons.
Senate Bill 1366, introduced by state Senator Mark DeSaulnier (D-7), would require every person to report the theft or loss of a firearm he or she owns or possesses to a local law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction in which the theft or loss occurred within 48 hours of the time he or she knew or reasonably should have known that the firearm had been stolen or lost. Law-abiding gun owners should not be made a victim twice.
In the state Senate Appropriations Committee: Please contact members of the Senate Appropriations Committee and urge them to OPPOSE AB 1527, AB 2333 and AB 2460. Contact information for members of this committee can be found here.
Assembly Bill 1527, introduced by Assemblyman Anthony Portantino (D-44), would expand on last year’s ban on open carrying of an unloaded handgun to also include unloaded rifles and shotguns.
Assembly Bill 2333, introduced by Assemblyman Jose Solorio (D-69), as amended, would expand California’s negligent storage law to any person who knowingly or reasonably should have known that a minor is likely to gain access to a BB device without the permission of the minor’s parents or legal guardian and the minor carries the BB device in a public place. Violators would be subject to a civil penalty, completion of a non-existent course on BB devices and/or community service. AB 2333 would impose an unnecessary and potentially severe criminal liability on everyday toys (not just BB guns and pellet guns) leading to severe penalties.
Assembly Bill 2460, introduced by Assemblyman Roger Dickinson (D-9), would ban law enforcement officers from transferring handguns that are not on approved “roster” to anyone but law enforcement officers. Currently, California law allows for the transfer of firearms that are not on the approved "roster" to be transferred to law-abiding civilians. These transfers must go through a licensed firearms dealer and are only transferred when the new civilian owner has passed a criminal background check.
On a good note, the following bills failed to pass in the state Senate Public Safety Committee and have been defeated for the year:
Assembly Bill 2182, introduced by Assemblyman Norma Torres (D-31), would require that a person be arrested if they inadvertently attempt to bring a firearm through an airport TSA checkpoint and ban that person from entering that airport in the future.
Assembly Bill 2549, introduced by Assemblyman Isadore Hall (D-52), would allow only a law enforcement officer who has honorably retired to request to retain their personally owned and regulated firearms. If an officer should leave for any other reason, their personally owned regulated firearms will be confiscated and/or surrendered for disposal. The NRA is opposed to confiscation of firearms and this will only lead to further legislation trying to confiscate firearms.
More Like This From Around The NRA
