As a fellow California resident, I ask you to please oppose Assembly Bills 1223, 1237, and 1509.
AB 1223 imposes a special tax on firearms and ammunition on top of existing sales tax. It is unjust to saddle law-abiding gun owners with special taxes to fund social service programs. Such a measure makes it more expensive for law-abiding citizens, like me, to exercise a constitutional right, and discourages us from practicing to be safe and proficient with our firearms for purposes such as self-defense, competition, and hunting.
AB 1237 mandates that state data, including personally identifying information, be made available to the Gun Violence Research Center, and gives DOJ discretion to distribute this same information to other non-profits’ researchers. This creates grave privacy concerns about the security of this information, as well as concerns that this information could be provided to groups that create biased “research” to push gun control policies without actually researching root causes of violence.
AB 1509 reduces penalties and enhancements for the criminal misuse of firearms, ensuring that criminals are not held fully accountable for their actions and allowing them to continue menacing our communities.
Greg Raven, Apple Valley, CA
