The California Association of Firearms Retailers (CAFR) and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) issued a statement advising legislators to veto three anti-gun bills in the state.
In the joint statement, the two groups noted that regulations on small businesses in California have cost the state an estimated $492 million and 3.8 million jobs, according to a study released last week by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office. The statement called “this astronomical figure is further proof why the governor should veto three ill-conceived and burdensome anti-gun bills that would hurt independent businesses and law-abiding firearms owners in the state.”
Marc Halcon, president of the California Association of Firearms Retailers (CAFR), said in the statement, “Small mom-n-pop gun shops in California are already being financially crushed by overregulation. The three bills on the governor's desk will drive still more of our members out of business, taking with them badly needed jobs and tax revenue, further hurting the state's already poor economy all without doing a thing to improve public safety.
“The three anti-gun bills currently on the governor's desk will do nothing to curb crime and only serve to hurt small, independent businesses that are already struggling in a poor economy,” said Lawrence G. Keane, senior vice president and general counsel for NSSF, the trade association for the firearms and ammunition industry. “Governor Schwarzenegger can demonstrate his commitment to turning around California's economy by vetoing these bills.”
The groups said the governor “has until Oct. 11 to veto AB 962 (ammunition registration), SB 41 (burdensome and unnecessary regulations that duplicate existing requirements under federal law governing the sale of firearms) and SB 585 (prohibitions on the lawful sale of firearms and ammunition at the Cow Palace exhibition center).”
Last week, the Governor's Office of Small Business Advocate released a detailed study finding the total cost of regulations in California to be $492.994 billion, almost five times the state's general fund budget and almost a third of the state's gross product. The study found that the regulatory burden costs an average of $134,122 per California business, $13,801 per household and $4,685 per resident each year. Small businesses are 98 percent of the state's enterprises and provide 52 percent of the jobs.
The groups said it is is estimated that the three bills would cost California at least $2.92 million annually in lost sales taxes, $629,000 in increased operating costs for state agencies and $180,000 in lost Cow Palace revenue. Lost retail sales in California are estimated at $35.7 million.
The CAFR and NSSF have made defeating all three bills a top legislative priority. Efforts to defeat the legislation include issuing multiple legislative alerts to retailers, sportsmen and gun owners in California and running a 60-second radio spot up and down the coast urging opposition to ammunition registration.
More information on the bills:
AB 962 — Would require that firearms dealers and other vendors of ammunition keep a registry of all buyers of handgun ammunition. The bill would also ban all mail order and Internet sales of handgun ammunition and reloading components.
SB 41 — Would further burden firearms retailers by requiring additional paperwork and documentation on the date of delivery of all firearms to a buyer. This bill equally affects consumers of firearms as the increased dealer costs would be passed along to the purchaser.
The bill also requires dealers to sign and to obtain the signature of the buyer or other transferee of a handgun on the Department of Justice Dealers Record of Sale (DROS) form indicating that the handgun has been delivered and the date upon which the delivery was made. It would further require dealers to date and sign a form stating that the buyer of a rifle or shotgun had taken possession of the gun.
SB 585 — Would prohibit the lawful sale of firearms and ammunition at the Cow Palace exhibition facility near San Francisco, located in Agricultural District 1-A, and would make a violation of that prohibition a crime. Its purpose is to ban gun shows at the Cow Palace and to set a precedent for the banning of all gun shows at other state-owned facilities where many sportsmen buy firearms and ammunition.
In California all firearms bought and sold at gun shows must be transferred through a federally licensed firearms retailer who is required under federal and state law to run a background check on the prospective buyer.
