California: How the Legislature’s Shutdown Impacts the 2nd Amendment

U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- The California Legislature is away on their summer recess but that doesn’t mean some shifty shenanigans aren’t taking place. They recently used the Governor’s budget as a brazen means to do some 2nd Amendment damage, and now we are facing some new abnormal challenges.

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon issued a statement this week that the Assembly is now “closed until further notice” following six confirmed COVID-19 cases among lawmakers and employees (they previously recessed from March 20 until May 4 to prevent the spread of the virus). The Senate may follow suit. Both were supposed to resume legislative hearings on Monday, July 13 in order to hear roughly 700 bills, before they adjourn for the year on August 31.

SO WHY IS THIS A BAD THING? Aren’t we better off when they are gone?

The devil is in the details. Will the shortened schedule – and that’s “if” they actually return to finish out the session, inhibit GOC’s – and the public’s ability to weigh in on anti-gun bills? Will we have adequate notice on hearing dates, amendments, etc? Last week the Speaker stated that remote testimony would no longer be an option. The uproar was likely the reason he reversed this decision. Every day, it’s something new.

IS NEWSOM SEIZING POWER IN THE LEGISLATURE’S ABSENCE?

• Usually, things are better when the Legislature leaves town. But an extended leave will defer power to the Governor. Assemblyman Kevin Kiley (R) warns that the current (and indefinite) hiatus has given Newsom “more unilateral power.”
• Assemblyman James Gallagher (R) charged that in his latest news briefing, the Governor argued “that not only can he exercise legislative powers, but that he doesn’t even really need to prove evidence to the judiciary.”

This is frightening stuff – things are bad enough without the Governor taking over. GOC is in the trenches battling against any unchecked power, whether from Newsom or any other entity that is taking advantage of COVID-19. We will continue our fight against any pandemic related executive orders that step on our 2nd Amendment rights – including those directives to close gun stores or impede anyone’s ability to buy a gun. With “defund the police” efforts growing across the nation, we are our own first line of defense.

About Gun Owners of California

GOC currently functions as a 501(c)4 non-profit. We operate exclusively from membership contributions and donations, utilizing our funds to actively educate on issues and candidates. We employ a strong, three-pronged approach to beating back the liberal assault on our constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms:

• We are in Sacramento, fighting full-time in the legislative halls for gun owner rights – opposing bad bills, supporting good ones, influencing the legislature every day, day in and day out. We refuse to let the liberal, anti-Constitution hostility keep us from moving offensively and our longstanding “institutional knowledge” serves as a critical resource to policy makers.
• We are fighting in the courts – in California and across the nation, having filed amicus briefs in numerous cases in California and other states as well as before the U.S. Supreme Court.
• And we are fighting at the ballot box – raising money to elect pro-gun candidates and to defeat the bad guys. We are scrupulous in our analysis and decision-making as to where these critical dollars would best be used. We know the fight is in the political trenches and victory will never be assured until the last anti-gun legislator is defeated.

The post California: How the Legislature’s Shutdown Impacts the 2nd Amendment appeared first on AmmoLand.com.