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			    GENERAL-RKBA Digest 343
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) FAXALERT: CA - Gun Ban Dealt Serious Blow by NRA Alerts 
2) INFO: Charton Heston -- On the Record as NRA's First Vice President 
         by NRA Alerts 
3) FAXALERT: California Gun Ban Dealt Serious Blow by NRA Alerts 
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Topic No. 1
Date: Fri, 6 Mar 1998 19:20:09 -0500 (EST)
From: NRA Alerts 
To: general-rkba-real.nra
Subject: FAXALERT: CA - Gun Ban Dealt Serious Blow
Message-ID: 
                   NRA-ILA CALIFORNIA FAX ALERT
        555 Capitol Mall, Ste. 455 * Sacramento, CA 95814
            Phone: 1-800-392-8683 * Fax: 703-267-3918 
                          GROOTS@NRA.org                   3/6/98
              CALIFORNIA GUN BAN DEALT SERIOUS BLOW
     Stating that California's Roberti-Roos gun ban "defies
rationality," the California Third Appellate Court of Appeal
struck a serious blow to anti-gun zealots by striking down a key
portion of the law.  The court ruled as unconstitutional a
provision of the law allowing the state's Attorney General --
with a judge's consent -- to add guns to the list of banned
firearms.  The court even went so far as to suggest that the
entire law unconstitutionally "violates equal protection" because
the 75 banned firearms are indistinguishable from other guns not
affected by the law.  "The court's ruling is a great victory for
California's law-abiding gun owners," said Mrs. Tanya K. Metaksa,
NRA's chief lobbyist.  "It is also a decision that repudiates the
whole gun ban movement in California and across the country.  The
court wisely recognized what NRA has been saying for years: 
Whether it is Roberti-Roos or the president's own gun ban, these
laws ban only the way some guns look, and bans on such
meaningless cosmetic features make for meaningless legislation." 
In its ruling, the court asserted, "...even assuming that
'ugliness' constitutes an unstated but valid 'harm' the
Legislature sought to alleviate, the Act defies rationality.  As
indicated, the term 'assault weapon' itself adds nothing to our
discussion because a gun only becomes an 'assault weapon' by
virtue of its inclusion on the assault weapons list, not because
of any objective quality that discriminates between 'assault
weapons' and other semiautomatic guns."  While this is great
news, this issue is far from over in California.  The March 6
edition of the Los Angeles Times reports that Attorney General
Dan Lungren will appeal the ruling.  Also, the recently amended
AB 23, Assemblyman Don Perata's (D) effort to replace Roberti-
Roos with language defining what a so-called assault weapon is,
rather than listing prohibited firearms by name, is on the move
in Sacramento.  Of course, should Perata's bill pass, it would
affect far more firearms than the original ban.  NRA will
continue to work to defeat this measure.  The bill could see a
vote on the Senate floor as early as next week.  Please contact
your Senator at (916) 445-4251 TODAY and urge him or her to
oppose AB 23!
                 SKS SPORTER CONFISCATION UPDATE
       On Tuesday, March 3, an Assembly Budget Subcommittee grilled
senior level Department of Justice executives about their "flip
flop" on the legality of the SKS Sporter.  Chairman Rod Wright
(D-48) focused the Committee's inquiry on the threat to law
abiding firearm owners.  Testimony was given by NRA Attorney
Chuck Michel, Turners Outdoorsman representative Bill Ortiz and
William Doss whose SKS Sporter was surrendered to law enforcement
at the direction of Attorney General Lungren.  The Committee
learned how large and serious the threat is and how little the
Attorney General's office has done to protect the thousands of
gun owners they have put at risk.  Assemblyman Wright directed
the Attorney General's office to work with the NRA and Committee
staff to draft legislation that will provide immunity to SKS
buyers and sellers, and financial compensation for those that
have been harmed by the Attorney General's actions.  The Attorney
General's staff tried to "clarify" their department's position on
the SKS Sporter by reading the following statement to the
Committee:
        DOJ POSITION ON THE LEGAL STATUS OF THE SKS RIFLE
       "The department's position on the SKS rifle with a
detachable magazine was largely a product of the evolving legal
environment.  As the Dingman case itself illustrates, individuals
were being prosecuted for the possession of this weapon.  The two
courts who looked at the issue adopted the "plain reading" of the
statute.  Penal Code Section 12276(a)(11) reads that the "SKS
with detachable magazine" is an assault weapon.  Due to the
controversy surrounding the issue of assault weapons, it was
perhaps inevitable that the law would be impacted by litigation. 
It has been and will continue to be necessary for us to continue
to scrutinize the meaning of the statute.  For example, this is
also relevant in the Colt-Sporter case where a decision of the
California Court of Appeals is expected within the next twenty
days.
       With regard to the SKS rifle with a detachable magazine, we
found ourselves in the position of having to make the decision of
whether to indicate publicly what we perceived the law to be at
this time.  Had we not done so there was a concern that
individuals might run afoul of the statute.  This was not an
option and we therefore found it necessary as two courts have
done to adopt the "plain reading" of the statute that the SKS
with a detachable magazine is an assault weapon."
       Please call Assemblyman Wright and thank him for his
vigorous efforts to defend gun owner rights (916-445-2363).  You
should also call Assemblyman Jim Cunneen (R-San Jose) at 916-
445-8305 who, after sitting through the Subcommittee hearing and
learning how vague the current assault weapon control act is,
announced that he will probably vote for AB 23  - an even more
ambiguous bill.
                       LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY
       A number of bills introduced this session are awaiting
committee hearings in both the Senate and Assembly.  Among the
measures opposed by the NRA are AB 2609 (LEMPERT), which expands
California's law prohibiting the possession of a firearm on
college campuses to include the school's entire grounds, all
buildings, and associated student housing, SB 1679 (KOPP), which
would prohibit the carrying of a firearm in a polling place, and
SB 1404 (KARNETTE), which would allow authorities to destroy a
gun if it is seized in a school zone.  This could create problems
for law-abiding citizens if their gun guns have been stolen and
they cannot provide proof of ownership.  Other NRA-opposed bills
include SB 1500 (POLANCO), legislation seeking to ban so called
"Saturday Night Specials", and SB 1550 (HAYDEN), which mandates
that dealers sell a "use limitation device", the creative new
term for trigger lock, or that they pack a warning in the box
with the firearm when it is delivered.  The bill would also
require dealers to post information about "use limitation
devices" and that they have at least three types of locking
devices available for sale.  Also pending a hearing in the 
Senate Public Safety Committee is the NRA-supported AB 2022
(WRIGHT), which would require a concealed carry permit to be
issued if certain criteria are met.  SB 1404 and SB 1550 will be
heard in the Senate Public Safety Committee on Tuesday, March 24
and  SB 1500 has been set for Tuesday, April, 14.  We'll keep you
posted as to when the rest of the bills are scheduled for
hearings.     
-=Continued in next post=-
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