California: Governor Brown Signs Anti-Gun Bills
Friday, July 1, 2016
Today, Governor Brown took another step towards diminishing
the Second Amendment in the Golden State. Keeping to his word of making
a decision before 11am, Governor Brown signed six anti-gun bills into
law that were railroaded through the legislative process.Governor Brown’s reason for signing these bills into law from his signing statement: My goal in signing these bills is to enhance public safety by tightening our existing laws in a responsible and focused manner, while protecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners.
The bills signed will only place further layers of restrictions and cost on law-abiding citizens exercising their constitutional rights without having a significant impact on criminals who are already ignoring the law.
The signing of these bills is very disappointing, but we cannot let this loss today curtail our resolve in fighting this war against those who want to destroy the Second Amendment. The NRA is prepared to pursue all options moving forward – legal, legislative and political.
Please take a moment to contact Governor Brown’s office throughout his European vacation. When he returns to work he can see and read how disappointed law-abiding gun owners are for not getting a chance to voice your opposition to the bills that he hurriedly signed into law. The contact information is (916) 445-2841 and https://govnews.ca.gov/gov39mail/mail.php
Click here to read the NRA’s response to Governor Brown’s actions.
In the meantime, YOU have the power help stop future threats to the Second Amendment in California, by VOTING and working to get fellow gun owners AND Second Amendment supporters to VOTE as well.
The below bills were signed into law:
Assembly Bill 1135 and Senate Bill 880 would make changes of monumental scale to California’s firearm laws by reclassifying hundreds of thousands of legally owned semi-automatic rifles as “assault weapons.” This legislation effectively outlaws magazine locking devices, more commonly known as “bullet buttons”. These are constitutionally protected firearms that have no association with crime. These changes would happen quickly with great individual costs to many gun owners and without public notice. Governor Brown vetoed similar legislation in 2013.
Assembly Bill 1511 would effectively end the long-standing practice of temporarily loaning a firearm for lawful purposes. Under this legislation the ability to loan a firearm to anyone other than a family member would now be prohibited unless conducted through a dealer, absent very narrow and limited exceptions. A simple loan to a trusted friend for a few days would take almost a month to complete from loan to return, requiring two background checks, two 10 day waiting periods, two fees and multiple trips to a gun dealer. The result of the misguided legislation would turn otherwise law-abiding citizens into criminals simply for borrowing or storing a firearm with a friend.
Assembly Bill 1695 would create a 10-year firearm prohibition for someone convicted of falsely reporting a lost or stolen firearm. The NRA does not oppose making it a misdemeanor to knowingly file a false lost or stolen report to law enforcement. Our reason for opposition is related to the restriction of a constitutional right for the conviction of a misdemeanor offense.
Senate Bill 1235 would place unjustified and burdensome restrictions on the purchase of ammunition and would require the attorney general to keep records of purchases. This legislation would further require any online ammunition sales to be conducted through a licensed vendor. First and foremost, the reporting of ammunition sales has already been tried -- and failed -- at the federal level. Throughout the 1980s, Congress considered repeal of a federal ammunition regulation package that required, among other things, reporting of ammunition sales. In 1986, the director of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms supported eliminating the reporting requirement, stating: "The Bureau and the [Treasury] Department have recognized that current record keeping requirements for ammunition have no substantial law enforcement value." As a result, the Firearms Owners Protection Act of 1986 repealed the ammunition restrictions, with little opposition to the removal of that requirement. SB 1235 will similarly fail to reduce violent crime, as a law requiring the registration of ammunition purchases by honest citizens will not deter criminals. Governor Brown has twice vetoed similar legislation.
Senate Bill 1446 would ban the simple possession of ammunition feeding devices/magazines that are capable of holding more than 10 cartridges. The federal “large-ammunition feeding device” ban of 1994-2004 was allowed to sunset due in part to its ineffectiveness. Yet, California anti-gun legislators still are persisting with this ban knowing that the congressionally-mandated study concluded that “the banned guns were never used in more than a modest fraction of all gun murders” before the ban and the bans 10-round limit on new magazines was not a factor in multiple-victim or multiple-wound crimes.
The below bills were vetoed by Governor Brown:
Senate Bill 894 would require a victim of a crime to report to local Law Enforcement the theft of a firearm within an arbitrary time requirement of five days and the recovery of the firearm within 48 hours. Click here to read the Governor’s veto message.
Assembly Bill 1673 would expand the definition of “firearm” to include unfinished frames and/or receivers that are “clearly identifiable as being used exclusively as part of a functional weapon”. Depending on how this vague terminology is interpreted, AB 1673 could essentially treat pieces of metal as firearms, subjecting them to California’s exhaustive regulations and restrictions currently applicable to firearms. Click here to read the Governor’s veto message.
Assembly Bill 1674 would expand the existing one handgun a month law to include ALL guns, including those acquired through a private party transfer. AB 1674 will have no impact on criminal access to firearms and instead significantly hamper law abiding individuals, causing increased costs, time and paperwork to purchase multiple firearms. Criminals will continue to ignore this law purchasing firearms illegally, ignoring this burdensome and ineffective restriction. Click here to read the Governor’s veto message.
Assembly Bill 2607 would expand the class of individuals who could seek a Gun Violence Restraining Order (GVRO).” The NRA opposes the current GVRO procedures because they provide a mechanism for an individual to lose the right to keep and bear arms with no due process of law. AB 2607 would compound these problems by significantly expanding the classes of individuals who could seek a GVRO. This expansion would now include employers, coworkers, mental health workers and employees of secondary and postsecondary schools. Click here to read the Governor’s veto message.
The below bill has passed the legislature and is waiting to be transmitted to the Governor. The governor must sign or veto legislation within 12 days of the day of transmittal, or it becomes law without his signature. However, if the 12th day is a Sunday or a holiday, the governor has until the next working day to act.
Assembly Bill 857 would require an individual to request a serial number from DOJ for home-built firearms. Anti-gun advocates are under the impression that criminals who are already ignoring the law will apply for a serial number issued from DOJ prior to use. This bill would do nothing but entrap law-abiding citizens exercising their Second Amendment rights. Governor Brown vetoed similar legislation in 2014.
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