On June 17, 2009, California's Brady Campaign Chapters went to Sacramento to advocate with our state legislators (serving from Eureka to San Diego and in between) for our 2009 priority legislation.   We had representatives from 16 of our 22 CA Brady chapters -- a great turnout -- including a combination of long-time leaders and new Brady members.

Before starting out on our legislative appointments, we had an excellent briefing by our Legislative Co-Chairs, Amanda and Nick Wilcox.  Next we met with Assembly Member Kevin de Leon, whose bill, AB 962, is our top priority bill for 2009.  AB 962 proposes to regulate the sale of ammunition in California in order to deter prohibited persons (ex-felons, mentally ill, and domestic violence abusers) from purchasing ammunition in person or online.

If AB 962 becomes law, ammunition sellers will be required to keep records of ammunition sales for 5 years that can be reviewed by law enforcement.  As Chief James from the California Police Chiefs has noted, "It's a new tool for crime detection and any addditional tool is good."  In the city of Sacramento where ammunition sales are already tracked, the police have discovered that 3 percent of ammunition is purchased by prohibited persons and have recovered numerous illegally owned firearms and supplies of ammunition.

Opposition from the gun lobby to AB 962 has been fierce.  Opponenents have put out utterly false information about the bill and Assembly de Leon has been subjected to a hate mail campaign.  The gun lobby apparently fears any regulation of ammunition sales, even though we have similar regulations in California for allergy medicine!!

California Brady members also spoke with their legislators about SB 449 by Senator Alex Padilla which requires that pawnbrokers and secondhand dealers report firearms acquisitions directly to the Department of Justice electronically is order to improve the accuracy and reliability of the Department's Automated Firearms System.

AB 962 and SB 449 have passed their respective legislative houses and will now be heard in the other house.  It is hoped that both bills -- which do not require any support from the General Fund -- will be signed by Governor Schwarzenegger.

Our day in Sacramento was a fine opportunity to meet our legislators and their staffs and to discuss ways that California can improve its already strong collection of sensible gun laws.  We thank all the California Brady members who attended and hope to bring even more of our supporters to Sacramento in the future.