A rare bit of good news out of California:
http://www.redding.com/news/2010/sep/02/gun-supporters-laud-bills-failure/Local gun rights advocates cheered this week as three proposed gun and ammunition laws died in the state Legislature.
The proposed laws would have banned the “open carry” of handguns in public, created a registration system for those who purchase rifles and shotgun and expanded a bill that requires registration of those who purchase handgun ammo.Assembly Bills 1934, 1810 and 2358 failed to get enough votes to pass, as lawmakers wrangled this week to pass a host of bills on the last week of the Legislative session.
Local gun shop owners applauded the bills’ failure.
“There are already laws on the books,” said Ryan Gibson, the manager at Nice Shot, an indoor shooting range in north Redding. “Criminals are criminals because they don’t abide by those laws. Creating a whole book of these things doesn’t help anybody. All it does is create more roadblocks for legal, law-abiding citizens.”
AB 1934 would have made it illegal to carry unloaded guns in public.
The Senate narrowly approved the measure Tuesday, the last day of the regular legislative session, on a 21-16 vote. But it failed in the Assembly.
The bill would have made it a misdemeanor to openly carry a handgun in a public place. Current California law permits carrying a rifle or a handgun in a holster if it isn’t loaded.
Democratic Assemblywoman Lori Saldana of San Diego sought the bill after gun rights groups held a series of demonstrations openly carrying unloaded weapons.
Lawmakers also failed to pass AB 1810, authored by Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles. The legislation would have expanded the current handgun registration law to so-called “long guns” like rifles and shotguns.
Similarly, support for AB 2358, authored by Kevin De Leon, D-Los Angeles, also fizzled out.
That bill would have expanded a De Leon-written bill that passed last fall.
The current law requires buyers of handgun ammunition to provide identification and leave thumbprints and personal information with registered ammo sellers.
De Leon’s newest bill, AB 2358, would have required that copies of handgun ammunition sales records be transmitted to the county sheriff or chief of police if local cities our counties passed laws requiring they do so.
Tehama County Sheriff Clay Parker is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the original bill.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
