Today, April 14, Senate Bill 124 passed the Senate Judiciary Committee with amendments to address some of NRA’s concerns; however, there are still problems with this bill as it goes beyond federal law and could permanently remove a constitutional right based on the conviction of certain misdemeanor offenses. Sponsored by state Senator Pat Spearman (D-1), SB 124 would expand the prohibited persons category beyond what is currently covered under federal law. Your NRA-ILA would like to give a special thanks to Senator Roberson for offering an amendment in committee that would have addressed NRA’s concerns on this issue. Unfortunately, this amendment was not accepted.
Additionally, the committee passed Senate Bill 387 with conceptual amendments as well; however, this “pre-crime” bill still has the potential to allow for ex parte orders to remove your Second Amendment rights - not because of a criminal conviction or mental adjudication, but based on third party allegations. This order lacks due process as firearms are required to be surrendered weeks before a hearing may take place. Further, this bill, unlike the current "Legal 2000 process," would do nothing to address those in need of mental health treatment or evaluation.
Further, today was the policy committee deadline. Eleven bills that failed to pass their policy committee in their chamber of origin by today are now dead for the 2017 legislative session. In addition to SB 124 and SB 387, AB 118 and SB 115 also passed the policy committee deadline and will continue through the legislative process.
To read about the bills which failed to pass the policy committee deadline, please click here. All bills except SB 124, SB 387, AB 118 and SB 115 are now dead.
Assembly Bill 118, sponsored by Assemblyman Skip Daly (D-31), would allow members of the military and those who have received an honorable discharge between 18 and 20 years of age to obtain a permit to carry a concealed firearm. Current law requires a person to be at least 21 years of age to be eligible for a concealed carry permit. AB 118 passed out of the Assembly Judiciary Committee on April 7 with a technical amendment and will now head to the Assembly floor for further consideration.
Senate Bill 115, sponsored by state Senator Moises Denis (D-2), would expand the list of places firearms are prohibited from being carried and kept to include public library property. In addition to banning firearms within the library, this prohibition would be extended to include the parking lot as well. This would encompass the onsite “book drop” stations commonly used for returning library materials. SB 115 passed the Senate on March 21 with a 12-9 vote and is currently pending in the Assembly Judiciary Committee.
Stay tuned to www.nraila.org and your email inbox for further updates on these bills.
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