By Derek M. Ciulla
On July 29, 2016, California Governor, Jerry Brown, signed not one, not two, but six gun control bills in to law. Governor Jerry Brown stated: “My goal in signing these bills is to enhance public safety by tightening our existing laws in a responsible and focused manner, while protecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners.” Shortly after Governor Jerry Brown signed the six gun control bills in to law, NRA spokesperson, Amy Hunter exclaimed:
“Governor Jerry Brown today signed a draconian gun control package that turns California’s law-abiding gun owners into second-class citizens. The governor and legislature exploited a terrorist attack to push these measures through even though the state’s already restrictive laws did nothing to stop the attack in San Bernadino. These bills make no one safer, they only add another layer of laws that criminals will continue to break. The National Rifle Association is prepared to pursue all options moving forward – legal, legislative and political.”
One of the 6 bills that have caused a major uproar in the gun community is the ban on the sale of semiautomatic rifles that use bullet button technology to easily release a magazine.
When particular rifles with detachable magazines and other specifications were classified as assault rifles under California State Law, it triggered many gun owners and manufacturers to seek numerous ways to obtain or modify rifles that were similar to assault rifles, but distinctive enough to circumvent qualifying as an assault rifle under state law. In 2007, Darin Prince invented a way to do exactly that, by creating the bullet button. The bullet button is a recessed button release encased in a raised circular block that replaces the magazine release. The recessed button cannot be pressed by the shooter’s finger and requires a tool, such as the tip of a bullet, to release the magazine. Under California law, a rifle with bullet button technology does not qualify as an assault rifle because it technically no longer has a “detachable magazine” pursuant to California’s assault weapons definition. However, as of January 1, 2017, any firearm with bullet button technology will then be considered an assault rifle and illegal in the state of California.
Many California gun owners and 2nd Amendment supporters are fighting to change this reality by organizing well-over one-thousand volunteers throughout California to garner enough signatures for each of seven referendum petitions to be placed on the November 8, 2016 ballot. In California, in order for a referendum petition to be placed on the ballot, signatures equal to 5% of the most recent gubernatorial vote is required. Therefore, they would need at least 365,880 signatures to put gun rights in the center of the presidential election. In order to collect the signatures they need, gun activists have established hundreds of tables outside of gun stores, supermarkets and other popular businesses. They have generated signature collection boxes and placed them outside of various businesses. As of this writing, they have raised over $60,000.00 to cover costs associated with their movement.
If they obtain the total required signatures, and win at the ballot box they will effectively overturn the countries newest and most extensive gun control laws.
Student Bio: Derek is currently a 4L evening division student and Lead Blog Editor with the Journal of High Technology Law at Suffolk University Law School. He holds a B.A. in Sociology from Pace University.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are the views of the author alone and do not represent the views of JHTL or Suffolk University Law School.
