2 big wins in California.

[Hendo]

https://crpa.org/news/blogs/two-big-victories-in-sacramento/

In the wee hours last night, as the two-year legislative session was coming to a close in Sacramento, CRPA’s legislative team helped bring home two critical victories.  SB 918, a bill that would have made it virtually impossible to carry a gun outside your home, and AB 1227, a bill to add 10-11% taxes to all new gun purchases, were defeated.

Working with a coalition of sheriffs and other Second Amendment groups and facing an aggressive push from Gov. Newsom, Attorney General Bonta, and top legislative Democrats, CRPA rallied pro-2A voices to reach out to four key legislators who proved to be crucial votes.  CRPA members were vital to this effort, generating calls (and even office visits) to these lawmakers to voice their opposition. The collective push held the bills just a handful of votes short of passage.

“California now joins the other 42 states that already issues these licenses freely to law abiding citizens and have experienced a decrease in violent crime as a result of the deterrent effect on criminals,” noted CRPA President & General Counsel Chuck Michel.  “CRPA is notifying local jurisdictions of their constitutional obligations to process applications quickly. We anticipate some stonewalling and game playing from certain localities hostile to gun ownership. We will see those hold outs in court very soon.”

The victory provides an extra measure of relief since both laws would have gone into effect immediately as “urgency” statutes, meaning higher taxes and an absurd patchwork of CCW restrictions across the state that would have burdened lawful gun owners while doing nothing to reduce crime.  That would have meant taxes as high as 40% on gun purchases in some jurisdictions!

These victories are certainly cause for celebration.  SB 918 and AB 1227 were central elements of the Democratic agenda to wipe out “gun culture”, while shamelessly claiming they are reducing crime.  One more time: CRIMINALS DON’T FOLLOW THE LAW!

While we are thrilled to report these wins, we know that nothing is ever truly “dead” in Sacramento, and legislators have already pledged to bring SB 918 back in the new year.  AB 1227 has already been introduced and defeated several times, so there’s no reason to think it won’t be back as well.