SACRAMENTO, CA —-(Ammoland.com)- On the last day of the State of California’s 2017 legislative year, civil rights advocacy organization Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) is once more calling for an immediate repeal of dangerously unconstitutional laws passed by the California Legislature in Assembly Bill 103 (AB 103), an “urgency” public safety omnibus bill that took effect immediately after it was signed into law on June 27.
AB 103 changed California Penal Code sections 29805 to say that even someone who “has an outstanding warrant for” an alleged violation of other codes and who “owns, purchases, receives, or has in possession or under custody or control, any firearm” is guilty of a crime that is “punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year or in the state prison, by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine.”
“AB 103 created a serious new, and potentially felony crime for merely being accused of committing some crime and having a gun,” explained FPC’s California lobbyist and spokesperson, Craig DeLuz. “These are the kind of laws that books about dystopian futures are inspired by.”
“I was taught in school that, in America, people are innocent until proven guilty,” DeLuz continued. “Apparently, the California Legislature thinks that all gun owners are guilty of a crime in all cases and must be punished, period. But my copy of the Constitution doesn’t have any ‘gun owner’ exception to fundamental, individual rights like due process and the right to keep and bear arms.”
Prior to the passage of AB 103, FPC sent letters of opposition and floor alerts to every California Assembly member and Senator, warning that it “would make a major and inappropriate policy change to state statute using a budget vehicle” and that it “would be a blatant violation of the public trust to pass AB 103…” DeLuz also met with many elected members and staff, encouraging them to remove the unconstitutional provisions prior to the bill’s passage. But, on June 15, the bill was passed out of the Legislature on a vote that included support by anti-gun Republican Assembly member Catharine Baker.
Then, on June 20, FPC communicated with Governor Jerry Brown, telling him that AB 103 is “a major assault on the due process rights of Californians” and a “violation of legislative process standards,” further requesting a veto of the bill. In a callous display of disregard to the Constitutional and fundamental rights, however, Gov. Brown signed the bill in spite of its facially unconstitutional changes to the law.
After consulting with a number of civil rights attorneys, FPC sent a letter to Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin de León, explaining that “AB 103 created serious new constitutional problems that should be corrected immediately,” and asking that the “constitutionally-offending text….should and must be deleted completely from both §§ 29805….to restore important constitutional rights and the presumption of innocence.”
“This is not something where a meaningless change is good enough,” said DeLuz about Senate Bill 112 and Assembly Bill 127, two measures that contain a proposed amendment to add a “notice” requirement to section 29805. “The presumption of innocence and due process are too important for legislative sleight of hand. The bottom line is that the only way for the State of California to fix this problem is to completely repeal the offending laws, and that is the only legislative remedy we will accept.”
FPC is also encouraging anyone affected by these unconstitutional laws, and attorneys representing clients affected by the laws, to contact them for potential legal or other support by email at engage[at]fpchq.org or by calling (855) 372-7522.
“The State of California’s unconscionable decision to enact these Orwellian laws makes it necessary to support legal actions to protect civil rights and strike down laws that criminalize the merely accused,” said FPC President Brandon Combs. “Allowing such laws to take root is, to borrow a phrase from then-Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, a mistake a free people get to make only once.”
“The more the government pushes restrictions on fundamental freedoms, the more we are obligated to ourselves push back against it,” Combs concluded. “All freedom-loving people must stand together and resist California’s unsettling trend towards radical authoritarianism and the usurpation of individual liberties, whatever the cost.”
Republican Assembly member Catharine Baker (Dublin – 16th District) broke with the caucus and joined anti-gun Democrats in voting to pass the bill.
About the Firearms Policy Coalition
Firearms Policy Coalition (www.firearmspolicy.org) is a 501(c)4 grassroots non-profit organization. FPC’s mission is to defend the Constitution of the United States, especially the fundamental, individual Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, through advocacy, legal action, education, and outreach.
Dear God. [;ease ;let their initiative to secede pass so we can get them out of our country. Or in the alternative, THE BIG ONE that will slide that slime pit into the sea.
Thank you God I live in Texas. Amen. But….. down in Austin there are a lot of scary folks in the state house. These dimwits are doing their best to turn Texas in the direction of the communist controlled states. So far there are enough brain using people there to counter the idiots. Texans must always be vigilant in watching our state government and keep them on the straight and narrow. It is sad to read posts from patriots that had to leave California and other states in orfer to live free. Remember the Alamo!!
Most Texans don’t even know what Remember the Alamo means.
@Idadho, Ahh, you have talked to most Texans then!
Do you even know ?
To the Californians expecting to leave their state for greener pastures: Stay away from Michigan. The Winters are brutally cold, dark, windy, snowy, icy and very long. It’s dark most of the time, even in the Southern part of the state. Thank you. Have a nice day.
It would be great if FPC would expound upon the meaning of this new law. Does ‘violation of any other code’ include speeding tickets and simple infractions and misdemeanors ? Upon conviction, do these infractions and misdemeanors make it illegal to possess or purchase firearms ?
No, the people must act soon
No taxation without representation was about a 2% tea tax. Bad representation leads to tyranny as much as a despotic king or communist dictator.
California has BAD representation. The state of the State is out of control and the local and Federal 9th Circuit have failed to read and understand te U.S. and State Constitutions because teh schools deliberately stopped teaching anything about te constitutions or the history that led to the constitutions.
California has gone over the tipping point and the United States Supreme Court must act soon.
No, it’s more like, sadly, the federal government needs to march in and restore Constitutionality by clearing out those who have violated their oaths of office, followed by wiping all unConstitutional laws from the books. Either that or the people themselves will need to do it, but Californians have been too brainwashed and cowed to do that.
@vab, do you really think that the federal government is going to march in and restore constitutionality by clearing out elected representatives? When you write “…the people themselves…” do you also mean the illegal aliens that should not be voting in the first place”
So, that’s kind of my point. The fierce wind of change is blowing at hurricane force in the wrong direction and the only patriots standing up to it are getting sand-blasted. Sad that we all had to live to see this happen to our once-great country. This is what happens when the socialists get ahold of our public schools and the media. Just like the communists did in Russia, China, etc.
The Supreme COurt have no authority to just go off against a state… someone will need to bring some legal action. BUT< as we read in Art 3 Sec 2 Par 2 of the US Constituion, ALL matters where a State is a party can ONLY be taken up by the SCOTUS and ONLY on original jurisdiction.
Need some sharp lawyer to bring a case against the state for passing blatantly unconstitutional laws, which, being contra the Constitution, are not law at all.
That’s why I left comifornia ( years of reading that opening statement I get to write it) loving Idaho!!
Born and raised in the Bay Area I just came to to conclusion that my home was lost and had to search out a new one.
To all my brothers and sisters left I say good luck and will see u sooner or later in a free state
the problem is not California it is the people and unless you want their diseased minds to infect the rest of the country we need to build a wall around them because when they leave they destroy where they settle .just look at Colorado. housing prices shot through the roof ,natives can not afford to live there ,gun laws get fucked up and a police state develops..Californians need to be vetted before they are let out of the land of fruits and nuts .the left coast along with il,nj,md.ct ny ma and ri all need to be quarantined for unconstitutional… Read more »
Hey Jeff,
Thank you for those kind words. I hope to be in a free state someday.
The other day i learned that four California state politicians from the Los Angels area are sons and daughters of illegal aliens. De Leon, Santiago, Lara, and Garcia. They come here illegally, and their off spring change our county to the shit hole they came from. They learned nothing about ehat mades our country great. I wouldn’t be surlrosed if there’s mite than four.