Anti-Gun Bills A Major Threat in the California Legislature

Please contact your state Senator and Assemblyman!

Several anti-gun bills were heard in the Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees this week that will have major implications for California gun owners and sportsmen if passed and enacted. Senate Bill 124 would ban virtually all handgun and rifle ammunition and cartridges.  Senate Bill 798 would require BB guns to be manufactured the same as a toy gun.  Assembly Bill 144 would ban open carry of firearms.  Assembly Bill 809 would require long gun registration.

Please call, e-mail and write your state Senator TODAY and urge him or her to oppose SB 798 and SB 124 and also call, e-mail and write your state Assemblyman TODAY and strongly urge him or her to oppose AB 144 and AB 809.  These bills are unnecessary restrictions on law-abiding gun owners and sportsmen and WILL NOT stop criminals. Contact information for your state Senator and Assemblyman can be found here. 

AB 144 passed in the Assembly Appropriations Committee by a 12 to 5 vote and is now awaiting consideration by the full Assembly.  This bill is just another way that anti-gun activists are trying to further stifle law-abiding gun owners from exercising their right to keep and bear arms.  Introduced by anti-gun Assemblyman Anthony Portantino (D-44), AB 144 would change the state’s gun laws and prohibit law-abiding citizens from carrying an unloaded handgun openly.  It is currently legal to carry an unloaded handgun into most public places within the state, including restaurants and malls, but if approved, AB 144 would make it a misdemeanor to carry an unloaded handgun in public under most circumstances.

SB 798, introduced by anti-gun extremist state Senator Kevin De León (D-22), passed in the Senate Public Safety Committee by a 5 to 2 vote and is now awaiting third reading in the full Senate.  This bill would treat air and BB guns the same as a toy gun by requiring the entire exterior surface of the device to be white, bright red, bright orange, bright yellow, bright green, bright blue, right pink, or bright purple as the predominate color.  BB guns are not toys and should not be treated as or manufactured like a toy. 

The two bills listed below were sent to the state Senate and Assembly Appropriations suspense file where they are scheduled to be heard again no later than May 26 and 27.  Please call, e-mail and write members of the state Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committee TODAY urging them to OPPOSE SB 124 and AB 144.   Contact information for the state Senate Appropriations Committee can be found here and contact information for the state Assembly Appropriations Committee can be found here.

SB 124, also introduced by anti-gun extremist Senator Kevin De León (D-22), would create a broadly expanded and technically flawed definition of handgun ammunition which would encompass virtually all rifle cartridges.  It would also ban the possession of many types of rifle cartridges and make it a felony to possess them.  SB 124 doesn’t stop there and could also ban virtually all non-lead ammunition used in California by reclassifying them as “armor piercing.”  If enacted, this bill could result in a complete ban on hunting in the California condor zone where the use of lead ammunition is prohibited for hunting.  This bill has enormous ramifications for California gun owners and sportsmen. 

If SB 124 would not already make purchasing ammunition difficult enough, an amendment was added by the bill sponsor to further add more problems for gun owners. SB 124 would also require the registration of ammunition and the banning of mail-order ammunition. 

AB 809, introduced again by F-rated Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-42), would establish a state registration system, similar to the one currently in place for handguns, for all newly-acquired rifles and shotguns.  Under AB 809, 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 Department of Justice. 

Please forward this alert to your family, friends and fellow gun owners and urge them to call, e-mail and write their state Senator and Assemblyman to OPPOSE SB 124, SB 798,  AB 144 and AB 809.  Contact information for your state Senator and Assemblyman can be found here.