June 2, 2010 Issue 2010-7
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Long Gun Registration Bill Set for Vote on Assembly Floor
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Legislation is scheduled for a vote on the Assembly Floor this week which would expand the current handgun registration law to long guns by requiring the Attorney General to permanently maintain a registry of all firearms purchasers. Under the provisions of AB 1810 (Feuer), those who purchase or transfer a shotgun or rifle will be required to register that firearm by submitting their name, address, place of birth, phone number and occupation to the California Department of Justice.
COHA believes that AB 1810 is an extreme invasion of personal privacy masked as an crime fighting tool. At this point, it is unclear whether or not California's existing handgun registration law is helping to fight crime in any meaningful way. Therefore, it is unnecessary to greatly expand the handgun registration law to include all firearms, particularly given that traditional sporting arms make up less than 10% of all firearms related homicides in California each year.
Your action is needed immediately to help STOP AB 1810. Please take the time to submit a letter of opposition to your Legislator. Click here for a sample letter and contact information for your Assembly Member.
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COHA Helps Protect Hunters from Firearms Bill
State Legislation that would impose severe penalties for common firearms violations was recently amended, due to strong opposition from the California Outdoor Heritage Alliance (COHA) and our partners. AB 2186 (De Leon) would have prohibited a person from owning, purchasing or possessing a firearm for 10 years for violating the state's "loaded firearms" provisions. Loaded firearm citations that would fall under the purview of this measure are some of the most common hunting-related violations. According to 2008 data from the Department of Fish and Game, there were 274 such violations statewide, representing the third most common type of hunting violation. Amendments taken avoid these overly harsh penalties from being imposed upon on hunters who may unwittingly violate loaded firearms laws, including accidentally leaving ammunition in a firearm after hunting or unknowingly entering public roads or other restricted public areas while hunting.
The amended version of AB 2186 has been narrowed to only relate to penalties for misdemeanor concealed carry violations. The bill is currently in the Senate. |
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