Ammo Registration Bill: DEFEATED!
Yes, you read that right, SB 53 was voted on three separate times on Friday August 29, 2014 and each time was held in the State Assembly!
It is apparent that an impassioned and eloquent floor speech delivered by our good friend Assemblyman Brian Jones (R-Santee), was convincing enough to keep several of the “Not Voting” Democrats to stay off the bill. This happened even though there was a serious amount of “arm-twisting” going on behind the scenes. It comes as no surprise that most of the “Not Voting” Democrats are in hotly contested races this November against staunch defenders of the Second Amendment. Be sure to watch his complete Assembly Floor speech!
The measure was brought up and voted on the Assembly floor at 3:52pm and received a vote of 36 ayes, 32 noes, and 11 not voting. To pass any bill out of the Assembly, they need a minimum of 41 votes.
They brought it up for reconsideration at 11:38pm and received 37 ayes, 33 noes, and 10 not voting.
On a third and final attempt to pass the bill, the Assembly brought it back up at 2:29am on Saturday August 30, 2014 when the bill received a final 35 ayes, 35 noes, 8 not voting, and 1 member absent.
This is a huge victory for all gun owners in California and we want to THANK YOU for all of the phone calls and emails that you sent to your Legislator’s offices! They really made a difference and you guys deserve a big pat on the back!
Had this bill been sent to Governor Brown’s desk and had he signed it into law, it would have required ammo venders to keep and report extensive amounts of information to the DOJ. Information on ALL ammunition purchases and purchasers and, would have banned mail-order purchases of ammo UNLESS you had a valid hunting license. It apparently did not strike Senator De Leon that felons could actually get a hunting license if they were archery hunters…
Also, Senator De Leon amended the bill at the last possible minute to delete the provisions requiring all ammo buyers to obtain a two year permit that included a background check and a $50 fee, before they could go to a licensed ammo dealer to buy ammunition and complete the registration requirements. By deleting this provision the Senator eliminated the funding provision to the program. He attempted to overcome this problem by appropriating finances from the Firearms Safety & Enforcement Special Fund which is a fee based fund paid by all gun buyers for specific related purposes. The problem that Senator De Leon ignored is that this fund has no nexus with ammunition licensing and so could not be considered a fee. It had to be considered a tax and that requires a 2/3rds vote of the legislature for passage. It appears that the Senator had no problem with being taken to court once again to evaluate the constitutionality of his legislation.
The defeat of Senate Bill 53 is a major success in the history of gun rights in California and Gun Owners of California was in the fight from beginning to end. Thankfully, this was the end of a two year session and SB 53 is completely dead so there is no way it can be brought back up next year.
SB 53 was a cluster bill and again, GOC is so grateful for all the time and effort that you all put into making sure that our Legislators knew that! We couldn’t have done it without you!
Over 33,000 emails and letters were sent to Assemblyman Brian Jones’
District Office in Opposition of SB 53