California Dreamin ... part 5

Nightmare '99

By Tanya K. Metaksa
© Tanya K. Metaksa & Associates, 1999

As expected gun owners in California this past year were the targets, as the new Democratic leadership took over, not that a Lungren governorship promised a gun owner friendly administration. The new Attorney General Bill Lockyer wasted no time in both presenting a horrific legislative package and going to court to change the rules concerning registration of “assault weapons.” With a favorable court decision in his pocket Lockyer and his California Department of Justice has put all California “assault weapons” owners on notice. Dispose of your previously registered “assault weapons” by January 1 or else! This action resulted in a lawsuit being filed on December 10, 1999 by the NRA and the California Rifle & Pistol Association (CRPA) that challenges Lockyer’s ability to prosecute those gun owners who registered their firearms in good faith. The lead lawyers are a Who’s Who of Second Amendment talent: Chuck Michel, Stephen Halbrook, and Don Kates. A Sacramento Bee article states that the lawsuit “challenges potential prosecution of California assault weapons owners who registered their weapons during a grace period extending from March 1992 to July 1998. Without the court's help, up to 2,000 assault weapon owners who registered during the six-year period face fines or prosecution if they don't relinquish, disable or transfer their firearms out of California. The suit claims those gun owners will be penalized for following rules that have changed since former Attorney General Dan Lungren was replaced by Bill Lockyer.” Complete information about the history of the lawsuit can be found at NRA-winning team. The California legislature that took the first six months of 1999 to build media support for the Democrat gun control package passed the first “gun” bill, SB 23, which was signed on July 19th. Then in quick succession they passed SB 15, SB 39, and SB 130. All those bills had companion Assembly bills. Additionally AB 295 and AB 495 passed. Governor Davis signed all of them into law with the exception of SB 29, which he vetoed. Thus California law now includes: Requiring most firearms be sold with a “use limitation device.” Requiring that all handguns be submitted for lab “safety” testing by the manufacturer before they are legal for retail sale in California Expanding on the Assault Weapons Control Act by defining what is a so-called “assault weapon” based on the firearm’s features and also makes it crime to manufacture, import, offer for sale, give or lend any detachable magazine capable of holding more than ten rounds. Purchasing more than one handgun in a 30-day period is now illegal. Increasing the penalty for first offense of carrying a concealed firearm without a permit from a misdemeanor to a “wobbler.” The term “wobbler” refers to certain crimes for which prosecutorial discretion is allowed in charging a person with a misdemeanor or a felony. In addition several more onerous pieces of legislation are being carried over to the 2000 legislative session. As a result of this legislative package the California Department of Justice has the job of writing the new “assault weapon” definition. We can rest assured that it will take further court action to determine what constitutes the true -- as written by the legislature -- definition of an assault weapon. Thus California law-abiding gunowners will have to wait until the definition is resolved, many years from now, and until then the DOJ will be free to enforce its version of the regulations. We can be assured those regs won’t favor gunowners. But it wasn’t just the statewide elected officials who were and are pursuing the elimination of gun owners’ rights. Almost every possible local official sees the gun issue as the means of getting consistently positive press. As a result cities and counties too numerous to list have begun trying to pass every conceivable gun restriction they could conjure up. In California, like the rest of nation, the tragedy at Columbine High School fueled the media anti-gun fervor. Then a few months later an alleged neo-Nazi terrorized the North Valley Jewish Community Center by shooting up the day-care center in the greater Los Angeles area. Every news program seized the opportunity to focus on this tragedy by replaying over and over again the helicopter videotapes of small children being escorted from the Center. As a result of the random act of a maniac, the Los Angeles Country Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance by a vote of 3-2 preventing the Los Angeles Country Fairgrounds from allowing any exhibitor from selling firearms and ammunition to hunters, sportsmen, and collectors. Although a temporary restraining order allowed the biggest gun show in the nation to continue to hold its October and December shows, the Great Western Gun Show, Inc. decided to move the four times a year gathering to Las Vegas, NV. According to Karl Amelang, President of Great Western Shows, Inc., "After the Los Angeles County Fair itself, the Great Western Show is the most profitable event produced at the Fairgrounds, adding $600,000 annually to the Fair Association's bottom line and more than $8 million to the small businesses and workers in Pomona and surrounding communities." One of the few bright spots on the horizon has been Sheriff Mike Carona of Orange County. As most of the readers of NRA Winning Team remember, Sheriff Carona campaigned on making the issuance of right to carry permits equitable across the country. He formed a committee to examine and proposed issuance regulations right after his election. I had the privilege of meeting with the Sheriff and members of his committee in 1998 and found them very willing to be reasonable and fair. In the spring of 1999 they made their recommendations to the Sheriff and he has followed their recommendations. According to the December 14, 1999 Los Angeles Times “As of early December, the Orange County Sheriff's Department had signed off on 482 concealed weapon permits, according to figures released Monday. That compares with 308 at the end of last year, when Sheriff Brad Gates was still in office.” I wish I could believe that there will be less political agitation for more gun control in the new millenium (yes, I know some people believe it starts in 2001, not 2000) than the past few years, but I don’t. The most important date for California gun owners is just over ten months away. The importance of this election can not be underestimated, for if they don’t make some progress in electing some pro-gun candidates at every level of government in election 2000, the worst is yet to come! Tanya K. Metaksa is the former Executive Director of the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA). Author of "Safe, Not Sorry", Mrs. Metaksa has appeared on many TV and radio shows such as "Crossfire", "Nightline" and "This Week".

"...The most important date for California gun owners is just over ten months away. The importance of this election can not be underestimated..."