AB 3064 (Maienschein) – Opposition Letter
April 16, 2024 –
Dear Assemblymember Maienschein:
I am writing to express Gun Owners of California’s opposition to your AB 3064, which authorizes the Department of Justice to charge an annual fee on those manufacturers or importers who sell any firearm device listed on the Department’s safety roster. Additionally, AB 3064 requires that any device newly added to the roster have certain information engraved or otherwise permanently affixed to the device.
Unfortunately, this bill will do little to chill the criminal use of firearms nor will it increase the overall safety of the public. Rather, it will force business entities to pay a fee to the state for the simple purposes of having a firearm safety device on the market in California. Further – and more significantly – the bill will place lawful, responsible gun owners in a precarious position of falling outside of the law should one of these devices no longer be on the certified list. The recent amendments regarding voluntary reporting exempted transactions are completely unnecessary and serve no crime preventing purposes.
Finally – the Supreme Court has ruled that mandatory storage of firearms is a violation of the Constitution. As you are no doubt aware, the 2008 Heller v. Washington DC decision by SCOTUS made several things abundantly clear: the 2nd Amendment is an individual right (as opposed to a collective right). The primary element of the Heller ruling was that the federal government could not require that firearms be stored and locked in a manner where the gun was not immediately accessible. What’s more, McDonald v. Chicago further ruled that states and local governments cannot require firearms to be similarly locked.
“SCOTUS affirmed that “the need for defense of self, family, and property is most acute” in the home and the Second Amendment “elevates above all other interests” the right “to use arms in defense of hearth and home.”
These are clear-cut legal decrees and yet the California Legislature continues to stiff arm rulings they find disagreeable. This is inappropriate and AB 3064 should be opposed. I believe that the scourge of criminal misuse of firearms can be solidly addressed without penalizing the lawful for the misdeeds of the unlawful – it will never have its anticipated resolution.
Our organization has a 40-year history of fighting for effective crime control and opposing ineffective gun control. The safety of Californians is at the very foundation of our mission, and it has been our consistent goal to work toward common sense solutions regarding the issue of crime and firearm ownership; this can be achieved, however, without sacrificing our Constitutional rights and the ability of the law abiding to protect their families.
Respectfully,
Sam Paredes,
Executive Director