Skinner Celebrates Signing of Two Gun-Control Laws

Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) held a press conference today, Friday, to celebrate Gov. Jerry Brown's signing of two bills she authored on gun control.

Brown disposed of a flurry of 17 gun-control bills Friday, vetoing several and signing several others. The bills were submitted in the wake of mass shootings that shook the nation, including the December massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

News accounts said he rejected the strongest measures – including a ban on semiautomatic rifles with detachable magazines – in what was described in some accounts as a defeat overall for gun control.

The headline in the Washington Post said, "Jerry Brown vetoes gun-control legislation," and Reuters reported, "California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed several gun control bills on Friday, a move that essentially rebuffs an effort by fellow Democrats to enact a sweeping expansion of firearms regulation in the most populous U.S. state."

The two Skinner bills signed by Brown were:

• AB 48 banning conversion kits that owners to convert regular magazines into high-capacity magazines
• AB 1131 extends the ban on buying an owning a firearm to five years from six months by someone who has communicated a serious threat of violence to a psychotherapist.

“Where Congress failed to act, California took the bold step to put gun violence prevention measures at the top of the legislative agenda,” Skinner said in a statement. “We seized the opportunity to make California a model for common-sense gun violence prevention.”

Skinner, whose district includes Albany, appeared in a press conference at the Elihu Harris State Building in Oakland with law enforcement officers and community representatives.