Gun-Related Bills to be Heard on June 21 in the California Legislature

Contact members of the state Senate and Assembly Public Safety Committee

One pro-gun bill and several anti-guns bills are expected to be heard in the state Senate and Assembly Public Safety Committees this Tuesday, June 21.   Please call and e-mail members of the state Senate and Assembly Public Safety Committees urging them not to punish California’s law-abiding gun owners and support our freedoms by opposing all anti-gun legislation.

Please forward this alert to your family, friends and fellow gun owners across California and urge them to also call their state legislators to OPPOSE these anti-gun bills. 

California needs ALL gun owners and sportsmen to voice their opposition to the complete gun ban that the California legislature is moving towards.

The following bills will be heard in the Assembly Public Safety Committee this Tuesday, June 21.  Please call AND e-mail members of the Assembly Public Safety Committee urging them to OPPOSE SB 427, SB 798 and SB 819 and SUPPORT SB 610. Contact information for the Assembly Public Safety Committee can be found here.

Oppose these bills:

Senate Bill 427, ammunition sales registration extension legislation, introduced by Senator De León, 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.  SB 427 was recently amended with provisions that would require the registration of RIFLE ammunition.  SB 427 passed in the state Senate by a 22 to 14 vote.  This bill is an attempt to overturn the NRA court victory earlier this year which ruled that the handgun ammunition sales registration law (AB 962 in 2010) unconstitutional and stopped this law from being enforced.  Anti-gun activists are determined to take away gun ownership piece by piece and this bill targets ammunition.  

Senate Bill 798, air gun, airsoft and BB gun sales ban legislation, also introduced by Senator De León, would treat air guns 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, bright pink, or bright purple as the predominate color.  Air gun and BB guns are not toys and should not be treated as or manufactured like a toy.   SB 798 would include the complete exterior of an airsoft gun also be colored.  Airsoft guns are already classified as toys/imitation firearms and are regulated under federal law to have an orange tip.  SB 798 does not stop there, it would also place a civil fine on the sale, manufacture, transportation, receipt, or distribution of imitation firearms for commercial purposes.  Ultimately, SB 798 will ban the sale of all air guns, BB guns and airsoft guns unless the manufacturer is willing to take on the extra expense of complying with California’s (the only state) new law, if enacted into law.  SB 798 passed in the Senate by 21 to 16 vote.

Senate Bill 819, further background check fund raid legislation, introduced by F-rated state Senator Mark Leno (D-3), would allow Dealer Record of Sales (DROS) funds to go to the Department of Justice to help pay for the enforcement of California firearm possession laws.  The DROS fund monies were originally collected from every firearm purchaser to pay for the administrative process for background checks.  However, these funds have been raided to help the Department of Justice pay their bills.  As a result, the DROS fund will certainly run out of money.  When it does, what will be their answer to this problem – another increase in the fees for background checks.  SB 819 passed in the state Senate by a 22 to 16 vote.

Support this bill:

Senate Bill 610, CCW statewide reform legislation, introduced by state Senator Rod Wright (D-Inglewood), is a much-needed reform for California’s concealed carry permit application process. SB 610 would mandate that concealed carry license applicants would NOT have to pay liability insurance and would also amend the current sequence for processing the concealed carry application by requiring the issuing agency to determine if the applicant has initial “good cause” BEFORE the applicant is required to expend the time and the cost required for the completion of the approval process.  SB 610 was PASSED in the State Senate by a 29 to 8 vote.

The following bill will be heard in the state Senate Public Safety Committee this Tuesday, June 21.   Please call AND e-mail members of the Senate Public Safety Committee urging them to OPPOSE AB 809.  Contact information for the Senate Public Safety Committee can be found here.

Assembly Bill 809, long gun sales registration legislation, 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.  AB 809 passed in the state Assembly by a 47 to 29 vote. This bill will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to implement and these additional costs could be passed onto firearms purchasers resulting in future DROS fee increases.