Urgent Action Needed by California’s Pro-Gun Community!

Please Stand-Up and Make Your Voices Heard Immediately!

Today, Tuesday, August 31, is the final day of the legislative session in Sacramento and it is crucial that pro-gun advocates make their voices heard loudly. 

Yesterday, Assembly Bill 1810 and Assembly Bill 1934 were voted on numerous times by the Senate but have not passed.  They have been granted reconsideration and will be taken up today.

AB1810 would establish a registration system, similar to the one currently in place for handguns, for all newly-acquired long guns.  Under AB1810, the make, model and serial number of the firearm as well as the identifying information of the purchaser would be recorded and kept on file by the California Attorney General’s office. 

If AB1810 were enacted, violent criminals would continue doing what they do now – obtain firearms through illegal means.  This bill would not decrease crime but will rather have disastrous effects on the already financially unstable Golden State.  AB1810 would impose additional burdens on California’s taxpayers to maintain the registration system as well as on the state’s licensed firearms dealers, small businesses who already deal with extensive business requirements. 

One simply needs to look at Canada, a nation with draconian firearms registration, to see the results – billions in cumulative administrative costs, annual cost overruns, no clear substantiation of public safety benefits, unjust prosecution, and a bureaucratic complexity that daunts those willing to comply.  Ironically, California is considering a new registration scheme as Canada is considering doing away with its system.

AB1934 would outlaw the open carrying of a handgun for self-defense. This bill is a blatant attack on the self-defense rights of law-abiding Californians.

AB1934 is a knee-jerk reaction by anti-gun legislators to punish citizens for engaging in the legal act of openly carrying an unloaded handgun.  In reality, the open carrying of firearms by law-abiding citizens is forced by California's unfair concealed carry law, which allows some citizens from some counties to receive a permit to carry, while their neighbors in the next county are denied that basic right for political, not public safety, reasons.

The Senate will also consider Assembly Bill 2358 today.

AB2358 was recently amended to include common rifle ammunition like .223 and 7.62 x 39.  This anti-gun legislation is intended to “clean-up” and address problems encountered with the passage of AB962 in 2009.  Make no mistake about it; this bill does nothing to improve AB962 for California’s gun owners.  In fact, it makes things far worse.

AB2358 would force licensed state ammunition retailers to obtain a special local license to operate in municipalities.  These retailers would also be required to notify local law enforcement before conducting business within their jurisdiction. 

Moreover, this bill mandates that ammunition retailers submit sales records to local law enforcement agencies and allows them to maintain those records indefinitely.  It does not require the same privacy and destruction requirements mandated for state ammunition vendors.

Passage of AB2358 would make it difficult for ammunition retailers to sell ammunition at sporting events and gun shows.  It would also leave law abiding Californian gun owners vulnerable to identity theft and political persecution by local, anti-gun politicians.

This could be your last opportunity to stop these attacks on our rights.  These bills have already passed the Assembly and their next stop, if passed by the Senate, would be the desk of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R)!

Please contact your State Senator AS SOON AS POSSIBLE and respectfully voice your opposition to AB1810, AB1934, and AB2358.  Contact information for your State Senator can be found by clicking here. 

Also, please take a moment to thank all of the Senate Republicans and Democrat Senators Lou Correa, Denise Moreno Ducheny, Dean Florez, Gloria Negrete McLeod, and Roderick Wright for voting against AB1810.  Please ask them to continue their opposition and to oppose AB2358.  Finally, kindly urge Senators Florez, Ducheny, and Negrete McLeod to vote “no” on AB1934.  To find contact information, please click here.