Thoughts on California AB 1237
When it comes to the State of California, we know that there are plenty of things that they have done in defiance of the
Second Amendment. We can go on and on about ammunition background checks, firearms bans, specific handguns that the citizens are allowed to own, etc. The list goes on forever. So, when it comes to California and states like California, we shouldn’t be too surprised when they come out with something new regarding bills that would just chip away at American gun rights, correct? Doing some reading on “Pro-2A” news outlets, I had discovered something that I find to be extremely concerning as an American who freely exercises their right to bear arms as protected under the Second Amendment.
California Assembly Bill (AB 1237) has been introduced into the California Assembly, and this is something that isn’t surprising and should throw up flags to firearms owners within the Golden State. Introduced by Assembly member Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), it would provide a base for firearm research named the “California Firearm Violence Research
Center at UC Davis.” The introduced bill would require information such as “Criminal history, a database of gun violence
restraining orders, and a database of firearm precursor parts purchases” to be stored. Along with these examples, there is a call for ammunition purchase information to be included in the database as well.
Looking further into this bill, I have read that the confidential information of law-abiding citizens would be made available not only to the newly organized firearm research center but the information would be made available to any “nonprofit bonafide research institution or public agency concerned with the study and prevention of violence, for academic and policy research purposes.” This sharing of information brings about a cause for concern regarding citizens who legally buy their ammunition and go through the proper channels on how to obtain ammo. Given that this is used for research purposes on “gun violence,” why does the private information of law-abiding citizens get to be shared with “research organizations?”
Having found this proposed bill through internet searches, I believe that this could potentially cause concern not only for law-abiding citizens within the State of California but throughout the rest of the country as other states could adopt this proposed bill as their own. I will continue to keep a close eye on this bill, reach out to individuals who oppose this bill, and collect more information and their stance on this proposed law.
https://openstates.org/ca/bills/20212022/AB1237/
Author : Nicholas Torres
