Gov. Brown Takes Action on Remaining Gun Bills, Including Two Vetoes Urged by Firearms Policy Coalition

SACRAMENTO – Earlier today, California Governor Jerry Brown took action on the remaining gun bills that were passed by the Legislature.

AB 450 – VETOED – McCarty (D-Sacramento)
AB 450 would have allowed local governments to radically increase the amount of fees they charge for handgun carry license (“CCW”) applications and license issuance. In FPC’s letter requesting a veto of the measure, we argued, among other things, that the “legislative process should not be used to settle local political scores.” Brown’s veto message mirrored FPC’s concerns, stating that the “bill was spurred by a local dispute in one county,” and that he was “unaware of a larger problem that merits a statewide change at this time.”

SB 1332 – VETOED – Mendoza (D-Los Angeles)
SB 1332 would have created hyper-technical new laws surrounding the loan and possession of firearms. In our letter requesting a veto, FPC argued, among other reasons, that “on the heels of SB 826….which moved the existing fund surplus over to a failed, unaccountable DOJ [APPS] program, [SB 1332] is the nail in the coffin for the account.” The Governor shared the same concerns, stating in his veto message that SB 1332 would create “millions of dollars in new and ongoing costs for the Department of Justice” and that he does not believe “that this additional burden and cost comes with a commensurate public safety benefit.”

AB 2510 – SIGNED – Linder (R-Corona)
Following months of FPC’s direct lobbying and significant grassroots pressure, AB 2510 was amended to provide for a modern, uniform carry license format.

AB 2165 – SIGNED – Bonta (D-Alameda)
AB 2165 amends California’s laws surrounding its “roster” of handguns deemed “not unsafe” by creating new exemptions for a number of law enforcement-related government employees. These exemptions allow more government employees to directly acquire from dealers thousands of handgun models that the State does not believe is “safe” enough for its law-abiding eligible residents to buy and use. AB 2165 was opposed by Firearms Policy Coalition.

Firearms Policy Coalition is still awaiting the Governor’s decision on Senate Bill 443, a civil asset reform measure FPC strongly urged Governor Brown to sign. SB 443 is also supported by such wide-ranging advocacy groups as the American Civil Liberties Union and Institute for Justice. Last week, Brown signed into law Assembly Bill 884, a measure to immediately repeal a law that criminalized the political use of Assembly video footage that followed FPC’s successful federal First Amendment free speech lawsuit FPCSADC, et al. v. Attorney General Kamala Harris.

Firearms Policy Coalition (www.firearmspolicy.org) is a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization. FPC’s mission is to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, especially the fundamental, individual Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

Firearms Retailers, NSSF File Federal Suit against Attorney General Healey’s Overreaching ‘Enforcement Notice’

NEWTOWN, Conn. – Four federally-licensed Massachusetts firearms retailers and the National Shooting Sports Foundation® (NSSF®), the trade association for the firearms and ammunition industry, today filed action in United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts to challenge on Constitutional grounds the “Enforcement Notice” issued by state Attorney General Maura Healey. The lawsuit states that her office overstepped its legal authority and deprived the retailers of their due process protections guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution. The action seeks declaratory relief and a permanent injunction enjoining enforcement.

The retailers are Pullman Arms Inc. of Worcester; Guns and Gear, LLC of Agawam; Paper City Firearms of Holyoke; and Grrr Gear of Orange.

“Attorney General Maura Healey’s actions were unconstitutional. Firearms retailers in Massachusetts cannot determine the meaning or scope of the Attorney General’s Enforcement Notice and subsequent explanations,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “Because criminal penalties can result due to Attorney General Healey’s unilateral reinterpretation of a state statute done without administrative process or input from affected parties, her office exceeded its lawful authority and retailers were deprived of their due process protections under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.”

“In addition, if the Attorney General’s Enforcement Notice is understood as applying to all semi-automatic firearms, it violates the Second and Fourteenth Amendments to keep and bear arms because it bans the manufacture, sale and possession of a broad range of firearms in common use by the citizens of Massachusetts,” Keane said. “Unfortunately, Attorney General Healy’s unconstitutional action has left us no other option than to seek relief from the courts.”

Representing NSSF and the retailers are the Boston-based law firm of Kenney and Sams, P.C., and Michael Sullivan of the Ashcroft Law Firm, who is a former United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts and former Acting Director, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Read the Civil Action at: http://www.nssf.org/share/pdf/092216-Complaint_for_Declaratory_Relief_As_Filed.pdf. Read more