This blog was contributed by Amanda and Nick Wilcox, CA Brady's Legislative Co-Chairs

Over the last two decades, California has enacted numerous significant and innovative firearm laws.  In fact, California legislation often serves as a model for other state or federal legislation.  Following Governor Schwarzenegger’s signature of our priority bill (microstamping) in 2007, similar legislation was introduced in seven states and at the federal level.  Former California legislators and governors, both Democrat and Republican, are to be commended for these past accomplishments.

The 2009-2010 legislative session provides an opportunity for further successes and challenges.  In the Assembly, a net gain of three Democrat seats will undoubtedly ease the passage of our bills on the Assembly Floor.  Moreover, Speaker Karen Bass, Majority Floor Leader Alberto Torrico, and Appropriations Committee Chair Kevin de León are strong supporters of gun violence prevention measures.

New Senate President Pro-Tem Darrell Steinberg has been a longtime champion of gun violence prevention and authored significant firearm legislation as a member of the California Assembly.  Senator Mark Leno, also a strong ally of the California Brady Campaign Chapters, will chair the Senate Public Safety Committee.

In this time of budget crises, getting our bills through the Appropriations Committees will be a big challenge.  However, with the support of key leaders in both the Assembly and Senate, and by introducing legislation with little or no cost, we look forward to a successful 2009-2010 legislative session!

The California Chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence are proud to present WOUNDED IN AMERICA, a show of oral histories and photographic portraits of gun violence survivors, at the Grace Cathedral in San Francisco from January 13 to March 27, 2009.

The exhibit features 25 survivors of shootings involving domestic violence, hate crimes, accidents, gang crimes, suicide attempts, stalking, robberies, and police interventions.  The survivors tell us about their lives before their shooting and the life-changing consequences of becoming a victim of gun violence (please see www.woundedinamerica.org).

Wounded in America was created by a husband and wife team, photographer Robert Drea and writer Stephanie Arena, who have documented stories of gun violence across the U.S.  Initially drawn to the subject of gun violence by a teen-age killing in their own neighborhood, Drea and Arena decided they wanted to bring the subject of gun violence closer to home than occurs with “unfathomable statistics.”  Their moving portraits and stories connect American viewers to the personal and devastating effects of living in a violent gun culture.  The exhibit, previously shown in the Los Angeles area, was incredibly well received.

We urge you to visit Wounded in America with your family, friends and colleagues from the Brady Campaign.  We would love you to send us your reaction.  You can write me at ellenboneparth@gmail.com.

Don’t miss this compelling and heart-rending exhibit.

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The Grace Cathedral is a magnificent site for showing Wounded in America. Admission is free.  Here is information about how to get there by public transportation and where to park.

Public Transportation

The California Street Cable Car stops at California and Taylor.

The 1 California bus stops at Sacramento and Jones (westbound) or Clay and Taylor, one block north (eastbound).
The Powell-Hyde and Powell-Mason Cable Cars stop at Powell and California, two blocks east.
The 27 Bryant bus stops at Leavenworth and California, one block west (northbound) or Hyde and Sacramento, two blocks west (southbound).

All of the above lines connect with Market Street buses, streetcars, subways, and BART.

Parking

Daytime street parking near the Cathedral is limited to two hours, except on Sundays. There is no parking on the right (north) side of Sacramento Street on weekdays from 4 PM to 6PM, and if your car is parked there it will be towed.

The garage on the Cathedral property is operated on a lease basis by Ampco System Parking, and the rates for the garage are as follows:

Early Bird Special Rate: Monday through Saturday - arrive between 6:30 AM and 10 AM, Sunday - arrive between 6:30 AM and 11 AM, Leave no later than 6 PM

Flat rate: $11.00

Regular rate (If you arrive after 10 AM Monday through Saturday, or after 11 AM Sunday) $2.50 every 20 minutes, maximum $27.00 within a 24 hour period.

How did the Brady Campaign fare in the 2008 election? As successful as the 2008 election was nationally for Brady Campaign endorsed candidates (2008 election results), the election was equally successful for candidates we endorsed in California. Congratulations to them!

In California, 95% of Brady-endorsed candidates were elected (California endorsements). When Brady-endorsed candidates in California ran against NRA-backed candidates, Brady-endorsed candidates won 4 out of 5 times. Clearly, the gun lobby is losing strength.

Let’s look at the State Assembly. With the victory of Brady-endorsed Joan Buchanan over an NRA-backed candidate in the 15th Assembly district that includes parts of Contra Costa and Alameda counties, the entire Bay Area is now made up of officeholders supportive of sensible gun laws. An NRA-supported candidate also lost in the 80th District that includes Coachella, Palm Springs and Calexico.

The Brady Campaign has supportive statewide office holders, including U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has also supported us by signing legislation to ban .50-caliber sniper rifles and require micro-stamping on semi-automatic handguns. We will be working with the Governor’s office on behalf of our priority bills in 2009.

As we move into the 2009 legislative session, we expect to have many state legislative supporters behind our priority bills. While California has the strongest gun laws in the country (California gun laws) as detailed in the annual Brady Campaign State Scorecard, there is more to do to keep dangerous guns out of the hands of dangerous people.

We will work to keep California on the cutting-edge of common sense gun legislation that can be modeled around the U.S.

We will be informing you about the work of our 20 California Chapters, including:

• our legislative activities in the state
  
• efforts to form additional California chapters
  
• local gun ordinances and violence prevention activities
  
• special events and fund-raising activities
  
• cooperative efforts with other violence prevention groups

We encourage you to interact with us by using the blog to send us your comments!

If you wish to receive this blog on your email, please notify me at ellenboneparth@gmail.com

We look forward to sharing our news and accomplishments with you. If you wish more news about the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, please go to our website.

The coming years will bring new successes as we work to making our communities and state safer and more secure. Please join us!

Warmly,
Ellen Boneparth
President, California Chapters

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence is devoted to creating an America free from gun violence. The California Chapters educate and mobilize their communities for sensible gun laws, regulations and public policies at the local, state and national level.