CalGuns Alert On SB 249 - Is It Dead Yet?

There were reports yesterday that California State Sen. Leland Yee's SB 249 was dead. However, the CalGuns Foundation warns that it may be dead but there still are a few more days left before it can be conclusively called dead.

They released this about the bill and urged those in opposition to keep up the pressure.

SB 249 MAY BE D.O.A.; STOP SB 249 CAMPAIGN URGES CONTINUED OPPOSITION PRESSURE

Cal-FFL, Calguns Foundation opposition letters cited in official Committee analysis that may be the final straw in breaking SB 249

For Immediate Release: August 14, 2012

Reference: Assembly Appropriations Committee Analysis at http://stopsb249.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/sb249_approps_analysis.pdf

SAN CARLOS, CA, AND MADERA, CA – In spite of bill author Senator Leland Yee’s many assurances to the contrary, even the Assembly Appropriations Committee legislative analysis found that the SB 249 gun ban presents California taxpayers with significant cost impacts.

The analysis determined that, among other major costs, SB 249 would impose “[o]ne-time special fund (Dealer Record of Sale Fund- DROS) costs, likely in excess of $200,000 (the AG's office estimates about $400,000), for the AG to conform existing regulations regarding the definition of assault weapon to the definition of detachable magazine proposed by this bill.”

Implicit in the Committee’s analysis is that SB 249 is a material legislative change to the Penal Code, which would require new DOJ regulations. Senator Yee and his staff have spent considerable time representing SB 249 to be a “clarification of existing law.” We now have further evidence in the Legislative record supporting our argument that SB 249 would harm California gun owners by creating an entirely new standard for “detachable magazine” firearms.

Up-to-the-minute information acquired by Cal-FFL lobbyist Matt Gray of Capital Alliance and Cal-FFL president Brandon Combs suggests that, while SB 249 may not succeed in passing the Appropriations Committee due to the substantial costs issues, it is premature to consider the bill a non-threat to gun rights.

“SB 249 has been proven to be an outrageous attack on hundreds of millions of dollars of legal private property and law-abiding gun owners. We’re encouraged that the Appropriation Committee’s analysis has affirmed our view that California simply cannot afford Senator Yee’s misguided bill,” said Combs. “We urge all of our members and supporters to continue vigorously opposing SB 249 by calling the members of the Appropriations Committee and using the Take Action tools at our StopSB249.org campaign website.”

The STOP SB 249 Take Action page is located at at http://stopsb249.org/takeaction.