firearms regulations

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Pre-Thanksgiving Present For California Gun Owners

November 27, 2017 by 1 Comment

When politicians want to announce news or launch a new policy and they don’t want it to get a lot of attention they release it without fanfare on either a Friday afternoon or the afternoon before the beginning of a long holiday weekend. Such is the case with the California Department of Justice and their newly announced “assault weapons” regulations. The 52 pages of the new regulations can be found here.

The Firearms Policy Coalition challenged their rulemaking in the past and won based upon how they sought to implement them without public comment. According to their release below, I think it is reasonable to expect more challenges to these regulations and the implementation of them by the California Department of Justice.

From FPC:

SACRAMENTO,
CA (November 22, 2017) — Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) has issued the
following statement regarding the latest California Department of
Justice (DOJ) proposed regulations on so-called “assault weapons”:
Once again, the California DOJ and Attorney General Xavier Becerra have used 11th-hour
tactics to push its anti-gun agenda, this time by releasing new
proposed “assault weapons” regulations right before a major holiday.
FPC has published the new proposed regulations at BulletButtonBan.com —
a Web site it established in 2016 for tracking the new California
assault weapon laws and regulations — where members of the public can
use FPC’s grassroots action tools to submit written comments to DOJ
regarding the proposed regulations. A public hearing on the new
regulations is scheduled for 10 a.m. on January 8, 2018, at the
Resources Building Auditorium in Sacramento.
Last
December, the California DOJ submitted its first attempt at “assault
weapons” regulations under the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) “File
& Print” process, which means that the DOJ believed the regulations
were not subject to public notice or comment. However, thousands of FPC
members and Second Amendment supporters sent letters opposing the secret
process through FPC’s grassroots tools and, without further comment,
the DOJ withdrew the regulations near the end of OAL review period.
Then,
in May, the DOJ re-submitted regulations under the same “File &
Print” process. Those regulations were summarily rejected by OAL a
little more than a month later. Following that, the DOJ submitted a
virtually-identical set of regulations under the “File & Print”
process, which OAL approved in July.
Now,
the Department is attempting to promulgate a new regulation to apply
the July regulations to all aspects of the State’s “assault weapons”
laws, including for purposes of criminal prosecutions.
FPC’s
attorneys are hard at work reviewing the regulations and have been
instructed to take every appropriate legal action to defend California
gun owners and individual liberties.
Earlier
this year, FPC was forced to sue the DOJ over the Department’s actions
to block access to public records and a previous version of the
regulations.
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Cal Bureau of Firearms Slapped Down For Unlawful “Underground Regulation”

August 21, 2012 by

The California Office of Administrative Law just slapped down the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Firearms for their “underground regulation” of “assault weapons”. The Bureau of Firearms was refusing corporations permits to own so-called assault weapons and .50 BMG rifles contending only individuals could obtain these permits.

I’ll let the release from Cal-FFL complete the story:

Reference: CA OAL determination at http://www.scribd.com/doc/103439872/Cal-FFL-2012-OAL-Determination-re-DOJ-Corporation-AW-Permits

MORGAN HILL, CA – In a significant decision for firearms manufacturers, dealers, and purchasers throughout California, the State of California’s Office of Administrative Law (OAL) determined that the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Firearms’ prohibition against the issuance of “assault weapon” permits to corporations and other entities to be an unlawful “underground regulation.” Jay Jacobson of Franklin Armory petitioned the Office of Administrative Law after being informed by the Bureau of Firearms that only “individuals” could apply for permits.

“As a California businessman, I strive to comply with all requirements of the law – and so must DOJ,” said Jacobson. “Companies in the firearms industry, like ours, often face a dilemma of whether to stand up and challenge the regulatory agency that holds licensing authority over them or just accept and submit to unlawful policies. We chose to act in favor of a final resolution and, thankfully, had the support of the firearms community and Cal-FFL.”

As reported by Cal-FFL in April, the DOJ had held steadfast by its opinion that only “individuals” are able to obtain permits to sell “assault weapons” or “.50 BMG Rifles”. However, the express text of Penal Code section 16970 states that “any entity” within the definition of “persons” may obtain such permits. Franklin Armory argued that the DOJ policy conflicted with the express language of the Penal Code, which defines “person” for the purposes of the Assault Weapon Control Act as “an individual, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, association, or any other group or entity, regardless of how it was created.” In spite of the clear language of the Code, DOJ disagreed, arguing that the language does not permit corporations to obtain the requisite permits to manufacture and sell such firearms. OAL’s determination put the matter to rest.

“This has been an issue for years,” said firearms and civil rights attorney Jason Davis. “We had requested that this policy be abandoned in 2003, but the previous administrations refused and the underground regulation was perpetuated. Until Franklin Armory decided to take action, with Cal-FFL’s support, the willingness within the firearms industry to challenge DOJ on this issue simply didn’t exist.”

OAL received comments in support of Franklin Armory’s petition from Brandon Combs of California Association of Federal Firearms Licensees, Inc., as well as attorney Clinton B. Monfort of Michel and Associates, P.C.

“This action should eliminate the burden, both financial and procedural, that law-abiding businesses face in this segment of the fast-growing firearms market,” said Brandon Combs of California Association of Federal Firearms Licensees, Inc. “Though we often find ourselves on opposite sides of issues, we appreciate the DOJ’s professionalism throughout the process and look forward to working closely with their representatives to ensure a smooth application of this determination.”

The OAL Determination is captioned as 2012 OAL Determination No.8 (OAL FILE NO. CTU2012-0207-01) and can be viewed at http://www.scribd.com/doc/103439872/Cal-FFL-2012-OAL-Determination-re-DOJ-Corporation-AW-Permits.
—
California Association of Federal Firearms Licensees (www.calffl.org) is California’s premier non-profit industry association of, by, and for firearms manufacturers, dealers, collectors, training professionals, shooting ranges, and others, advancing the interests of its members and the general public through strategic litigation, legislative efforts, and education. For more information or to join, please visit Cal-FFL.

Franklin Armory (www.franklinarmory.com) is part of a California corporation that has been in operation for over 20 years and specializes in producing legal firearms for restrictive jurisdictions such as California. They also build full feature firearms for “free” states. Every firearm produced at their facility in Morgan Hill, California, is made with 100% American made parts & materials.

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NC Wildlife Commission Proposed Regulations Have Some Good News For Gun Owners

August 1, 2012 by

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission has announced their proposed regulation changes for the 2013-2014 seasons. The 68 proposed changes range from reclassifying certain trout streams to captive deer regulations. The Commission will begin statewide hearings on these proposed regulation changes starting September 11th in Dublin and conclude on September 27th in Rocky Mount.

Within the list of the 68 proposed changes are some that should be of particular interest to gun owners and those that carry either concealed or openly.

Under “Wildlife Management” category:

H2. Remove restrictions on carrying firearms during the deer bow-and-arrow season and pistols during the muzzleloader season in accordance with state law. Allow hunting with muzzleloading pistols.

Under the “Dog Training” category:

H7. Allow hunters to carry firearms while dog training.

Under the “Game Lands” category:

H9. Allow open carry of firearms anytime on state-owned game lands and conservation areas.

Finally, while not gun related, they are proposing another change that might be considered a sign of the economic times.  That is the ability to keep road-kill.

H21. Reduce restrictions on keeping wildlife killed accidentally or found dead. Specifically: Allow a person to request authorization to keep a deer or turkey found dead of natural causes or due to a vehicle collision; Allow a person to keep dead raptors and nongame migratory game birds if the person gets a federal permit; and Allow possession of any other species of wildlife found dead without Commission authorization, except bears and protected species may not be possessed at all.

 Not that I’d encourage it but there are a number of cookbooks devoted to road-kill. The granddaddy of them all seems to be this book by Buck Peterson.