Firearms advocates dislike registration of long guns, ban on open-carry

California gun advocates are taking aim at a series of new laws that require rifle and shotgun registration while making it illegal to openly carry unloaded handguns in public.

"There will be lawsuits, that's for sure," said Sam Paredes, executive director of Gun Owners of California, a nonprofit gun rights lobby.

Gov. Jerry Brown cleared a multitude of legislation from his desk over the weekend, including five bills impacting gun ownership.

Four of the five bills were authored by Southern California legislators, and the fifth was penned by a San Francisco lawmaker.

"I just don't think it's going to benefit (California gun owners) in any way whatsoever," said Daniel Vaca, an employee at Kittles Outdoor and Sport Co. in Colusa.

Vaca, who has worked at Kittles for five years, said he fears the new laws will severely hamper rifle and shotgun sales throughout the state.

"In all reality, it's just crazy to register long guns," Vaca said. "I think if you have to register your gun in California, then people will just stop buying them here all together."

Many otherwise law-abiding citizens may be tempted to simply purchase their weapons out of state, Vaca speculated.

Assembly Bill 809 requires the registration of any newly purchased long gun starting in 2014.

Assembly Bill 144 makes it a misdemeanor offense to openly carry unloaded handguns in public. Exceptions to the law include hunters, sport-shooting events, and peace officers, among others, according to the state Legislative Analyst's Of fice.

While pro-gun lobbyists were lamenting the new laws, their counterparts in the anti-gun lobby hailed the governor's decisions as "responsible legislation."

Dallas Stout, president of the California chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, had high praise for both laws.

The Brady Campaign sponsored both pieces of legislation. The group is named after President Ronald Reagan's press secretary James Brady, who was shot in the head during an attempt on Reagan's life in March 1981.

"By prohibiting the open carry of guns, we can now take our families to the park or out to eat without the worry of getting shot by some untrained, unscreened, self-appointed vigilante," Stout said. "The retention of long-gun records will enable the tracing of long guns used in crime and help law enforcement expose traffickers and sources of illegal guns."

Perhaps not surprisingly, Paredes disagreed.

"This is an assault on the Second Amendment; a complete violation of our right to keep and bare arms," Paredes said.

Williams police Chief Jim Saso said he had mixed emotions about the new law, especially the open-carry ban and requirements to register long guns.

"I'm a firm believer in the Second Amendment and I fully support it," Saso said.

Saso described "a tricky balancing act" in weighing a individual's right to bear arms with the community's need for safety.

"From a law enforcement perspective, the open-carry ban clears up some of the confusion that existed before," Saso said. "And the (registration requirements) will make it much easier for us to track stolen guns or guns that are used in a crime."

Saso said it is "not a simple black-and-white issue."

Gun rights advocates had reason to be happy with the governor, too.

Second Amendment lobbyists were pleased Brown vetoed AB 427, which would have allowed law enforcement to collect sales records from ammunition vendors.

Paredes said he was also grateful the governor put his name to Senate Bill 610, which he said streamlines the concealed weapons permit application process and eliminates requirements for the applicant to buy liability insurance as a condition of approval.

However, the governor faces heavy criticism and possibly lawsuits over his implementation of the open-carry ban and long-gun registration, which Paredes called "a form of tyranny."

"The signing of (the concealed weapons law) and the veto of AB 427 was like a gentle kiss on our cheek while he was punching us in the stomach with the others," Paredes said. "It is a full assault on the Second Amendment by a governor who used to have a good record on guns, but he destroyed that over the weekend."

Some industry experts noted that while the governor has signed the new laws, the state Attorney general decides exactly how vigorously they will be enforced.

And while politicians and advocacy groups on both sides trot out traditional talking points, many North State gun owners like Willie Beavers of Glenn County are taking a wait-and-see approach.

"It's always been a long, expensive process to get a gun in California," Beavers said. It's not too hard, but maybe too time-consuming and too expensive."

Beavers said he's glad he lives in a rural community where concealed weapons permits can be obtained.

"Everyone wants to keep guns away from the wrong people, but I don't know if a new law will do that — and people can still get guns out of state. It could just make it harder for people that already follow the rules."

CONTACT Rob Parsons at 934-6800 or rparsons@tcnpress.com.