Please Contact the Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee Today!

Assembly Bill 2948 and Assembly Bill 1634 are scheduled to be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday, July 14.

AB2948, introduced by State Assembly Member Mark Leno (D-13), would ban the sale of firearms and ammunition on the property or inside the buildings that comprise the Cow Palace. 

AB1634 is being pushed by radical animal “rights” and anti-hunting organizations and is an affront to our hunting heritage and private property rights.  This bill, in its amended form, would dramatically increase the fines imposed against dog owners when “intact” dogs are impounded by animal control officials.  A third impoundment in a dog’s lifetime would result in a mandatory spay or neuter order with the cost of the procedure to be covered by the owner.

More troubling is a provision that authorizes animal control officials to impose fines and mandatory spay and neuter orders when dogs are subject to citizen complaints.  There is no requirement that complaints be substantiated by animal control officials.  By ignoring basic principles of due process, this system will be open to abuse by disgruntled neighbors and animal “rights” zealots who crusade against pet reproduction.

This bill threatens the ability of sportsmen to occasionally breed their hunting dogs in order to cover costs of care and to provide hunting partners with a proven line of puppies.  All Californians should be offended by the idea that the government can order a person’s dog to be spayed or neutered, especially based upon unsubstantiated complaints from the public.

Please contact each member of the Appropriations Committee and voice your opposition to the Cow Palace gun show ban and mandatory spay and neuter legislation.  Contact information can be found below.

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE:

State Senator Tom Torlakson (Chair)
Phone: (916) 651-4007
Fax: (916) 445-2527

State Senator Dave Cox (Vice Chair)
Phone: (916) 651-4001
Fax: (916) 324-2680

State Senator Samuel Aanestad
Phone: (916) 651-4004
Fax: (916) 445-7750

State Senator Roy Ashburn
Phone: (916) 651-4018
Fax: (916) 322-3304

State Senator Gilbert Cedillo
Phone: (916) 651-4022
Fax: (916) 327-8817

State Senator Ellen Corbett
Phone: (916) 651-4010
Fax: (916) 327-2433

State Senator Robert Dutton
Phone: (916) 651-4031
Fax: (916) 327-2272

State Senator Dean Florez
Phone: (916) 651-4016
Fax: (916) 327-5989

State Senator Sheila Kuehl
Phone: (916) 651-4023
Fax: (916) 324-4823
[email protected]

State Senator Jenny Oropeza
Phone: (916) 651-4028
Fax: (916) 323-6056

State Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas
Phone: (916) 651-4026
Fax: (916) 445-8899

State Senator George Runner
Phone: (916) 651-4017
Fax: (916) 445-4662

State Senator Joe Simitian
Phone: (916) 651-4011
Fax: (916) 323-4529

State Senator Mark Wyland
Phone: (916) 651-4038
Fax: (916) 446-7382

State Senator Leland Yee
Phone: (916) 651-4008
Fax: (916) 327-2186

Four bills that pose a very serious threat to our Second Amendment rights are in various stages of the legislative process.

Earlier this week, Assembly Bill 1634 was moved out of the Senate Appropriations Committee.  It now heads to the Senate floor where it could be considered any day.

AB1634 is being pushed by radical animal “rights” and anti-hunting organizations and is an affront to our hunting heritage and private property rights.  This bill, in its amended form, would dramatically increase the fines imposed against dog owners when “intact” dogs are impounded by animal control officials.  A third impoundment in a dog’s lifetime would result in a mandatory spay or neuter order with the cost of the procedure to be covered by the owner.

More troubling is a provision that authorizes animal control officials to impose fines and mandatory spay and neuter orders when dogs are subject to citizen complaints.  There is no requirement that complaints be substantiated by animal control officials.  By ignoring basic principles of due process, this system will be open to abuse by disgruntled neighbors and animal “rights” zealots who crusade against pet reproduction.

This bill threatens the ability of sportsmen to occasionally breed their hunting dogs in order to cover costs of care and to provide hunting partners with a proven line of puppies.  All Californians should be offended by the idea that the government can order a person’s dog to be spayed or neutered, especially based upon unsubstantiated complaints from the public.

Assembly Bill 2948, which would ban the sale of firearms and ammunition on the property or inside the buildings that comprise the Cow Palace, was placed in the suspense file.  This bill could return at any moment, so it is imperative that California’s gun owners and sportsmen remain vigilant. 

Assembly Bill 2235 is still pending action in the Senate Appropriations Committee.  This bill would prohibit the sale of handguns other than "owner-authorized (or “smart”) handguns"-- that is, handguns with a permanent, programmable biometric feature that renders the firearm useless unless activated by the authorized user.   No proven, viable handgun of this type has ever been developed.  Introduced by Assemblyman Mark DeSaulnier (D-11), AB2235 would require the Attorney General to report to the Governor and Legislature on the availability of owner-authorized handguns.  Once the Attorney General finds that these guns are available, only “owner-authorized” handguns could be approved for sale in California.  

Finally, Assembly Bill 2062 was placed in the suspense file.  As with AB2948, we must stay alert as it could be brought to life at any moment.

AB2062 would make it a crime to privately transfer more than 50 rounds of ammunition per month, even between family and friends, unless you are registered as a “handgun ammunition vendor” in the Department of Justice’s database.  Ammunition retailers would have to be licensed and store ammunition in such a manner that it would be inaccessible to purchasers.  The bill would also require vendors to keep a record of the transaction including the ammunition buyer’s name, driver’s license, the quantity, caliber, type of ammunition purchased, and right thumbprint, which would be submitted to the Department of Justice.  All ammunition sales in the state of California would be subject to a $3 per transaction tax.  Lastly, mail order ammunition sales would be prohibited.  Any violator of AB2062 would be subject to civil fines.

Please contact your State Senator and respectfully urge him or her to oppose AB1634.  Also, don’t forget to contact the members of the Senate Appropriations Committee TODAY and respectfully urge them to oppose AB2235.  Contact information for your State Senator can be found here.  Contact information for the Senate Appropriations Committee is below. 

Please Contact Your State Senator Today!

Please Contact Your Senator Today!

Earlier today, August 22, Assembly Bill 1634 was voted down by a vote of 27-5.  AB1634 would have required all dogs in California older than six months to be spayed or neutered unless the dog owner obtained a “may issue” annual intact permit from the owner’s local government after paying an unspecified fee.  AB1634 is being pushed by animal “rights” extremist groups like the Humane Society of the United States.

AB1634 could be brought up for reconsideration on Monday, and it is imperative that you make your voice heard today!  Please contact your State Senator and urge him or her to vote against AB1634 if it comes back up for another vote.  To find contact information for your State Senator, please click here.

A California law suit that has been bouncing back and forth in the court for almost ten years has become the unlikely vehicle by which the question of whether the Second Amendment is “incorporated” so it restricts state and local gun control efforts may be answered. 

Following on the heels of the June Supreme Court ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller that the Second Amendment does protect a fundamental individual right and restricts federal action restricting the right to keep and bear arms, today members of an NRA led coalition of self-defense civil rights groups filed a flurry of “friend of the court” amicus briefs in the case of Nordyke v. Alamenda. The Nordyke case is now before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. It was filed by gun show promoters challenging an ordinance that bans guns on county property (effectively banning the gun show at the county fairgrounds). 

Joining the NRA’s efforts are the California Rifle and Pistol Association, Second Amendment Foundation, Gun Owners of California, The National Association of Arms Shows, and dozens of esteemed law professors from law schools across the country.  Briefs arguing against the right to keep and bear arms were filed by the California State Sheriffs Association, the California Peace Officers Association, the California Police Chiefs Association, San Francisco, Oakland, the Legal Community Against Violence, the Brady Center, and other anti gun owner groups. 

All of the briefs, along with a history of the case, are posted at www.calgunlaws.com. 

With the supplemental briefs on the incorporation issue filed today, the Court will now set a date for oral argument. The Court will almost certainly have to decide the incorporation question, and then (assuming they find that the Second Amendment applies to the states) either decide whether the gun show ban ordinance violates the Second Amendment or send the case back (remand) to the trial court to make that determination.