New polling data should alarm responsible gun owners

By Michele Hanisee

Law-abiding gun owners in California have cause to be gravely concerned these days.

With the November election just seven weeks away, a new California Counts poll indicates state voters overwhelmingly support Proposition 63, the misleading anti-gun ballot measure that Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is pushing.

The so-called “Safety for All Act” would, among other things, make it harder to obtain ammunition and guns, prohibit the possession of large-capacity magazines and criminalize the failure to report lost and stolen guns.

As we wrote back in March, the initiative might seem to make sense on the surface. But in this case, the image is at stark odds with reality.

For one thing, this initiative would do nothing to stop criminals from acquiring ammunition, guns or large-capacity magazines. But it would make it prohibitively difficult for responsible gun owners to obtain ammunition for sport and home defense. Plus, while imposing unreasonable burdens on responsible gun owners, it would actually incentivize criminals to commit residential burglaries and armed robberies of gun stores.

Even our liberal governor, Jerry Brown, recognizes the folly of targeting responsible gun owners. In vetoing a 2013 bill that would have criminalized the failure to report gun thefts, he noted that responsible owners would report a theft and irresponsible owners would not, regardless of what the law says.

Newsom has raised almost $4 million in support of Prop. 63. His massive money haul has clearly had an effect: 93 percent of Democrats and 60 percent of Republicans support the measure, according to the California Counts poll.

As prosecutors, we would enthusiastically support any proposed law that promised to be a realistic tool against gun violence. But Prop. 63 is simply bad public policy.

Its passage would have zero effect on criminals – other than to encourage them to commit more crimes. At the same time, it would criminalize the conduct of ordinary citizens.

The ADDA encourages all of its members to do everything they can to spread the truth about this misguided, and misleading measure. Please share this or our other related blogs on social media. To read or share the blogs, please click on the hyperlinks below: (1) The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend (2) Ballot measure on guns, ammo hinders law enforcement (3) Safety for All Act is a dangerous misnomer (4) The “Ammo Police” is not the answer to criminal use of firearms