California Gun Licensing Bill Scrapped…For Now

Thursday, August 31, 2000

By EMILY BAZAR

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Acknowledging that the governor awaited
his measure with a veto pen, a California legislator Wednesday
dropped his bid to require prospective handgun owners to obtain a
license by passing written and gun-handling tests.

Gun owners and groups such as the National Rifle Association have
mobilized against the measure, making thousands of calls and writing
reams of letters in opposition.

But the bill’s author, Assemblyman Jack Scott, D-Altadena, said he
didn’t abandon AB 273 as a result of outside pressure. Instead, he said,
he made the decision to drop the bill after talks with Gov. Gray Davis
revealed the Democratic governor wouldn’t sign the measure should it
land on his desk this year.

“Since it was clear I couldn’t convince the governor to sign it at this time
… I reluctantly have become convinced that my best chance for seeing
this bill become law is to pursue it next year,” Scott said.

Last year, the Democratic governor signed a spate of gun-control
legislation, including a revamped version of the assault weapons ban. At
that time, he warned legislators not to pass additional measures this
year, urging them instead to defer until “the impact of the laws recently
enacted can be measured and analyzed.”

Assembly Democratic leader Kevin Shelley of San Francisco said
Assembly leaders agreed that it’s best not to “jam” the governor with
this bill, and have opted to wait until next year when prospects may
improve.

“We don’t want to put him in an uncomfortable position,” Shelley said.
“I think the governor has indicated strong support for this next year.”

But support for the bill in the Legislature, as in the public, was by no
means unanimous.

Assemblyman Richard “Dick” Dickerson, R-Redding, believes
gun-control measures that have faced the Legislature in the past two
years haven’t effectively addressed the “criminal use of weapons.”

Dickerson lumped Scott’s licensing bill into that group, and said it
merely would have put additional burdens on law-abiding gun owners.

“AB 273 makes it more burdensome and troublesome for honest
people to take advantage of the rights afforded them” under the Second
Amendment, Dickerson said.

The bill would have mandated that as of July 1, 2002, no one could buy
a new handgun, or receive one as a gift, without obtaining a safety
license.

To obtain a license, a prospective owner would have to provide a
thumbprint and submit to a background check; perform “safe handling”
and “basic shooting proficiency” demonstrations; pass a written test;
and take a training course approved by the state Department of Justice.

Gun control advocates argued that people who want to own handguns
should know how to handle them safely and properly.

Luis Tolley, Western director of Handgun Control Inc., the group that
sponsored the measure, said he is disappointed the bill was dropped.
According to Handgun Control, 12 other states already have passed
various forms of handgun licensing requirements, and Tolley said it’s
about time California joins them.

“If we have to wait another year, there will be another 250,000
handguns sold in California to people who don’t have safety training,”
he said. “That certainly poses a threat to our children and our
community.”

Tolley said he is confident the governor will support a similar measure
next year.

Gun owner groups, on the other hand, said they were ecstatic by
Scott’s move.

“The public is pretty much tired of getting more gun laws when they
learn the gun laws on the books aren’t being implemented,” said Sam
Paredes, executive director of Gun Owners of California Inc.

Paredes said he isn’t daunted by the possibility that the bill may
resurface next year. In fact, he said, this year’s attempt has spurred a
burst of fund-raising and activism among gun owners. He said he
expects the same to happen next year.

Despite the pressure, Scott said his support for the issue has not
wavered. Though he said he had hoped to convince the governor that
“my licensing bill should be an exception to his moratorium on new gun
control bills,” he vowed to persevere.

“I will pursue this measure again next year or however long it takes for
it to become law,” he said.