ThinkingAfield.org

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.