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The Victory Garden
CRPA's Listing of Recent Achievements:
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Legislative Victories:
Bill - AB9 (Cardoza, D-Merced)
Title - Gun Safe Tax Credit
Purpose - Would have given a tax credit to gun safe buyers, but also would have registered owners of firearms by
creating a list of those using the gun safe tax credit.
CRPA Action - Opposed the bill until it was defeated.
Bill - AB17 (Jackson, D-Santa Barbara)
Title - Repeal of State Control of Firearms Laws
Purpose - To repeal state preemption over local firearm laws so that county and city governments could each enact
their own separate and different firearm laws.
CRPA Action - Opposed the bill until it was defeated.
Bill - AB22(Lowenthal, D-LongBeach
Title - Ban on Home Based Firearms Dealers
Purpose - To do away with home based firearms dealers by making it illegal for local governments to issue them
business licenses.
CRPA Action - Opposed the bill causing it to become stalled until it died on file.
Bill - AB35 (Shelly, D-San Francisco/SB52 (Scott, D-Altadena)
Title - Handgun Registration and Owner Licensing
Purpose - To require handgun buyers to register all currently owned unregistered handguns and to re-register
those already registered, to pay an annual handgun registration fee for each, and to require buyers to first obtain
a license. This was all proposed under the guise of "safety." Had these bills passed in this form, there no doubt
would have been follow up legislation to extend them to all handgun owners, and possibly to all owners of rifles and
shotguns, as well.
CRPA Action - Opposed both bills resulting in them being cut back to just revising California's already existing safety
testing program, and increasing and expanding the fees being charged. In the revised form, the bills passed on a bare
minimum vote and were signed by the Governor.
Bill - AB273 (Scott, D- Altadena)
Title - Licensing of Handguns Buyers
Purpose - To require a state issue license to buy a handgun and the registration of all handguns already owned.
CRPA Action - Opposed the bill until it was defeated.
Bill - AB566 (Koretz, D-West Hollywood)
Title - "Assault Weapon" Buy Back
Purpose - To use taxpayer money to establish and fund a state "assault weapon" buyback program.
CRPA Action - Opposed the bill until it was defeated
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Bill – AB602, AB992 (Koretz, D-West Hollywood)/ (Ridley-Thomas, D-Los Angeles)
Title – Ammo Tax
Purpose – To change ammunition buyers a “fee” to pay for the expenses of gun shot victims. The “fee” would be ten cents per round or per individual primer component.
CRPA Action – Opposed both bills until they were defeated.
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Bill - AB1010 (Cardenas, D-Sylmar)
Title - Ban on Raffling Firearms
Purpose - To prohibit the raffle or free drawing of any firearm, firearm part, ammunition or ammunition component
at sportsmen's fund-raising dinners or other activities.
CRPA Action - Opposed the bill until it was defeated.
Bill - AB1097 (Romero, D-Los Angeles)
Title - Gun Show Restrictions
Purpose - To place so many restrictions on gun shows that it would be virtually impossible for them to continue to operate.
CRPA Action - Opposed the bill until it was re-written to include only reasonable and acceptable new requirements
for gun shows.
Bill - AB1204 (Villaraigosa, D-Los Angeles)
Title - Increased Bans on Firearms Possession
Purpose - To make it illegal for any person to possess a firearm who has been convicted of almost any misdemeanor
within the last ten years.
CRPA Action - Opposed the bill until it was dropped by its author.
Bill - AB1219 (Frommer, D-Los Angeles)
Title - Mandatory "Smart Gun" Technology
Purpose - To mandate that all handgun manufacturers selling handguns in California equip them with currently
non-existent "Smartgun" technology that would allow only the owner or designated user of a handgun to fire it.
CRPA Action - Opposed the bill causing it to become stalled until it died on file.
Bill - AB1607 (Shelley, D-San Francisco)
Title - Licensing of Handgun Buyers
Purpose - To require a state issued license to buy a handgun and the registration of all handguns already owned.
CRPA Action - Opposed the bill until it was dropped by the author.
Bill - AB1717 (Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys)
Title - Ballistic Testing
Purpose - To require costly and time consuming ballistic fingerprinting and record keeping of all handguns sold.
CRPA Action - Opposed the bill until it was amended to require only a study of ballistic finger printing technology.
Bill - AB2068 (Steinberg, D-Sacramento)
Title - Child Mental Health
Purpose - Among other things, to allow the questioning of children by school officials about the presence of firearms
in their homes and neighborhoods.
CRPA Action - Opposed the bill until the firearms questioning provision was removed.
Bill - AB2222 - (Koretz, D-West Hollywood)
Title - Ban on .50 Caliber Centerfire Rifles and Prohibition on Specified Rifle Ammunition
Purpose - To ban .50 caliber centerfire rifle and to prohibit .50 and smaller caliber ammunition that can penetrate armor.
The term "armor" was not defined for purposes of the bill, thus allowing an interpretation that could ban most hunting and
competition ammunition regardless of caliber.
CRPA Action - Opposed the bill until it was defeated.
Bill – AB2858 (Ridley-Thomas, D-Los Angeles)
Title – Ammunition Tax
Purpose – To tax (charge a “fee”) ammunition purchases at a rate of 10% and handgun purchases at a rate of 5%. The money thus raised would pay for medical treatment of uninsured persons having firearms related injuries and to support a huge bureaucracy to administer the program.
CRPA Action – Opposed the bill until it was defeated.
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Bill – SB35 (Scott, D-Altadena)
Title – Ballistic Identification
Purpose – To mandate that "ballistic identifier" information be stored digitally for all firearms sold by dealers on and after January 1, 2005. Because of government studies showing such a system to be impractical as proposed, the bill is in the process of being amended.
CRPA Action – Opposed the bill until it was defeated. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bill - SB510 (Scott, D-Altadena)
Title - Loaded Chamber Indicators
Purpose - To reguire that all semiautomatic firearms have loaded chamber indicators that allegedly would prevent
accidental discharge injuries.
CRPA Action - Opposed the bill until it became stalled and was later rewritten to focus on airport secuity. Neutral
as amended.
Bill - SB950 (Brulte, R-Rancho Cucamonga)
Title - Illegal Firearms Possession
Purpose - To establish a computerized list of perosns lawfully prohibitied from possessing a firear, and to allow
recently prohibited persons to sell or transfer theri firearms to another person instead of having them confiscated
and dewtroyed without compensation by law enforecment.
CRPA Action - Supported the bill until it was passed and signed into law.
Bill – SB1140 (Scott, D-Altadena)
Title – Firearms Storage
Purpose – To revise the "criminal storage" of firearm laws. To apply to both loaded and unloaded firearms and in debate parental consent as a legal defense.
CRPA Action – Opposed the bill until it was vetoed by the Governor.
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Bill – SB1152 (Scott, D-Altadena)
Title – Ammunition Buyer Registration
Purpose – To require buyers of handguns ammunition to register at the time of purchase and to provide a thumbprint or hunting license number in the retailers registration book.
CRPA Action – Opposed the bill until it was vetoed by the Governor.
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Bill - SB1212 (Perata, D-Alameda)
Title - Product Liability: Firearms
Purpose - To allow product liability lawsuits against the manufacturers of firearms and ammunition for injuries
resulting from the criminal and careless use of their non-defective products.
CRPA Action - Opposed the bill until it was dropped by its author.
Bill - SB1496 (Solis, D-El Monte)
Title - To establish a state sponsored firearms "buyback" program and an advertising campaign against the ownership
of firearms.
CRPA Action - Opposed the bill until it was defeated.
Bill – SB 1733 (Speier, D- Hillsborough)
Title – Gun Show Ban
Purpose – To ban gun shows at the Cow Palace in San Mateo County (Daly City).
CRPA Action – Opposed the bill until it was defeated.
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Bill - SCA12 (Perata, D-Alameda)
Title - Ammunition and Reloading Component Tax
Purpose - To pay for the operation of hispital emergency rooms and trauma cneters by taxing ammunition at a rate
of 5 cents per loaded round and 5 cents per individual reloading component.
CRPA Action - Opposed the bill until it was dropped by the author.
Litigation Victories:
Lawsuit - Harrot v. Kings County
Issue - Which firearms does the California Department of Justice refer to under the 1991 Amendments to the 1989
"Assault Weapon" Control Act?
Ruling - The ruling handed down on June 28, 2001 states that the DOJ must give notice of specifically what firearms
are AK or AR "series" guns. Eliminates confusion over AK and AR "series" guns.
CRPA Involvement - Filed an amicus brief in the case.
Lawsuit - McGee v. LAPD
Issue - Illegal firearms property seizures by the Los Angeles Police Department.
Ruling - LA City ordered to change policies and LAPD ordered to pay attorney's fees to CRPA and NRA.
CRPA Involvement - Filed suit in conjunction with the NRA.
Lawsuit - CRPA v. Compton
Issue - City of Compton's failure to produce documents relating to the issuance of concealed weapons permits
requested by CRPA through a Public Records Act Request.
Ruling - City ordered to pay attorney's fees and to produce the requested documents.
CRPA Involvement - Filed suit.
Lawsuit - CRPA v. Santa Barbara County
Issue - Santa Barbara County's failure to produce documents relating to the issuance of concealed weapons
permits requested by CRPA through a Public Records Act Request.
Ruling - County ordered to pay attorney's fees and to produce the requested documents.
CRPA Involvement: Filed Suit
Lawsuit - CRPA v. San Francisco
Issue - Legality of local "assault weapon" ordinance.
Ruling - City repealed the ordinance.
CRPA Involvement: Lead plaintiff
Issues: Preemption of local "AW" ordinance by state laws.
Status: Won. Challenge to the City and County of San Francisco's municipal "assault weapon" ordinances as preempted by state "assault weapon" law. Ordinance repealed in response to suit!
CITY OF LOS ANGELES
Issues: Preemption of local LA "AW" ordinance by state laws.
Status: Won. Challenge to the City of Los Angeles municipal "assault weapon" law as preempted by the state "assault weapon" law. Ordinance repealed in response to suit! Attorney's fees reimbursement motion filed December 22, 2003. Case is stayed by stipulation pending an opinion in an unrelated Cal Supreme Court decision on the fee recovery issue. In December 2004, the California Supreme Court reached its decisions in two cases addressing the "catalyst theory" for recovering attorneys' fees. The Court upheld the catalyst theory in California, although it has been rejected in federal courts. As a practical matter, this means that when an ordinance is challenged, if the city repeals the ordinance rather than litigate the matter, attorneys' fees are recoverable. Our motion to collect fees now goes back to the trial court where we can rely on the new California Supreme Court's decision to support our position.
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CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
Issues: Challenge to local ban on .50 caliber firearms.
Status: Contra Costa County passed fifty caliber ban ordinance effective May 6, 2004. Preliminary Injunction motion filed by June, 2004. Hearing set by court for November 4, 2004. Ordinance became effective May 6th. Judge Vaughn Walker assigned (good news). Status of case uncertain in light of AB 50 taking effect 1/1/05. County appears to be repealing the ordinance. Case may be modified to challenge L. A. or S. F. ordinances, which are similar to Contra Costa County ordinance. Contra Costa repealed its ordinance rather than litigate this matter once the state passed AB 50, the statewide ban on possession on .50 caliber BMG firearms. Although the state law is significantly narrower than this county ordinance was, the County no doubt saw the passage of AB 50 as an opportunity to withdraw from this contentions fight.
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MODESTO SCHOOL BOARD
Issues:Propriety of closing down a gun range on school campus.
Status: School district failed to comply with California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) before voting to demolish gun range on campus. Prevailed on appeal! Judgment entered February 4, 2004. The school must now reimburse fees since ACE prevailed. Fee reimbursement motion filed August 16, 2004. Litigating fee request.
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CONEJO VALLEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Issues: School district violated plaintiff's First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, Fifth Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment rights, and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
Status: Plaintiff, diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome, was suspended for five days and transferred to another school after stating during class: "my dad has a gun." Disciplined for this "threat." Mediation completed on June 29, 2004, case settled favorably.
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SAN JUAN UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Issues: First Amendment Issue
Status: Sporting Clubs T-shirt banned from High School because of dress code prohibiting any depiction of weapons. Defendants' response pending. School District modified dress code in response to our demand.
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Election Victories:
The defeat of David Roberti in the L.A. City 2nd Council District primary election was a great win for self-defense
civil rights. Roberti, the father of California's 1989 "assault weapon" law, was the odds on favorite to make it into
the run-off. As in the Feuer race.
CRPA Involvement - CRPA worked with NRA to get out the votes that beat Roberti in this election. Moderate
candidate Tom LaBonge went on to defeat leftist Beth Garfield!
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The defeat of Mike Feuer in his race for the City Attorney 's Office in Los Angeles.
CRPA Involvement - CRPA worked with NRA to mount an aggressive get out the vote program which included
mailing absentee voter registration forms to members of both organizations eligible to vote in the City of Los Angeles.
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CRPA members and grassroots activists achieved some remarkable results at the local level in California this past election day. In races where CRPA selected a candidate; CRPA worked with grassroots gun-owners and CRPA members locally. CRPA selected candidates were elected in 60% of local races.
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In Richmond, CRPA members and the grassroots activists of West Contra Costa were successful in their goal of defeating Andrés Soto in his bid for a seat on the Richmond City Council. An intense campaign helped inform Richmond area voters of the atrocious record of this freedom-hating individual. Soto has been focused on restricting law-abiding gun-owners for nearly a decade and has worked in close coordination with the gun ban lobby. For years they've attempted, unsuccessfully, to ban gun shows from the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds. Most recently, this individual pushed the County Supervisors to ban the sale of .50 caliber rifles and ammunition throughout Contra Costa County. With 5 Richmond City Council positions open, Soto finished 6th.
Local Government Victories:
LONG BEACH .50 CAL BAN
Defeated at second reading! Defeating the Long Beach .50 caliber ban proposal was an extraordinary success. Though the City Council passed the ordinance with a few votes to spare, the City decided against the ordinance on the second reading (we were informed that this is the first time this has ever been done in Long Beach) to avoid litigation.
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"ASSAULT WEAPON" ORDINANCE REPEALS
Initially there were nine municipal "assault weapons" ordinances. As a result of our campaign for repeal, there are now no municipalities with "assault ordinances" remaining on the books.
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"SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL" ORDINANCE REPEALS
Initially there were 56 municipal "SNS" ordinances. As a result of our campaign for repeal, there are now only nine municipalities with "SNS" ordinances remaining on the books. None are being enforced. Los Angeles and San Francisco have already indicated they are repealing theirs. Once that is done, the rest will follow.
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TRIGGER LOCK ORDINANCE REPEALS
Initially there were 34 municipal "trigger lock" ordinances. As a result of our campaign for repeal, there are now only 13 municipalities with "trigger lock" ordinances remaining on the books. None are being enforced.
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Legislative Victory - "Saturday Night Special" Handgun Ban Ordinances Repealed.
Where - Alameda, Albany, Baldwin Park, Bell Gardens, Belmont, Berkeley, Beverly Hills, Compton, Daly City,
El Cerrito, Fremont, Half Moon Bay, Hayward, Huntington Park, Inglewood, Montebellow, Monterey Park, Norwalk,
Pco Rivera, Piedmont, Pinole, Pleasanton, Pomona, Richmond Rohnert Park, Sacramento, San Carlos, San Mateo,
San Pablo, San Rafael, Tiburon, Walnut, Walnut Creek, West Covina, West Hollywood, Los Angeles County,
Sacramento (December 12, 2000), Marin County, San Mateo, San Anseimo and Union City have all either repealed
or are repealing and de-publishing their ordinances.
Compulsory Storage or Trigger Lock Mandates Defeated or Repealed
Where - San Carlos, San Rafael, Layfayette, Fremont, National City, San Mateo, and Marin County, San Anselmo,
Oceanside, Beverly Hills.
One Gun a Month Ordinance Defeated
Where - West Hollywood
Waiting Period Extension Defeated
Where - Santa Monica
Background Check Provisions Repealed
Where - Santa Monica
Local Assault Weapon Bans Repealed.
Where - Stockton, Berkeley, Santa Monica, Pleasanton and several other cities.
FFL Dealer Banishment Ordinances Defeated or Repealed
Where - Glendale, and many cities in Orange and Fresno Counties
Hunting Bans/Discharge Prohibitions Defeated or Repealed
Where - Lake County and American City |
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CRPA's Listing of Past Achievements: |
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Jan 2004: CRPA launches statewide public service gun safety campaign.
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Dec 2003: CRPA helps defeat a Long Beach proposal that would have banned the sale of .50 caliber firearms
in the city.
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Aug 2003: In response to a CRPA pre-litigation demand for repeal of its trigger lock ordinance, Contra Costa
County repeals its ordinance rather than face a CRPA lawsuit.
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Jan 2003: CRPA Lawsuit Forces San Francisco To Repeal Its "Assault Weapon" Ban
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Apr 2002: CRPA Condemns Kaiser Permanente Campaign Against Gun Ownership
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Apr 2002: CRPA Launches Project To Assist Local Pro Self-Defense Candidates
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Oct 2001: CRPA Re-Launches Controversial Billboard Campaign "Society is safer when criminals don't know
who's armed."
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1995: CRPA Launches Controversial Billboard Campaign "Society is safer when criminals don't know who's armed."
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1991: CRPA conducts a poll of police officers and sheriffs throughout California, conclusively establishing that
law enforcement does not endorse gun control as a crime control measure. |
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