Assembly Resolution Calls for Nationwide Ban of Assault Weapons

The California State Assembly has approved Assembly Joint Resolution 45 which calls on the President and Congress to reauthorize the Federal Assault Weapons Ban which expired in 2004.

Assembly Member Mike Feuer, introduced the resolution in response to recent gun violence in Colorado and Wisconsin. Feuer represents the state’s 42nd district which includes Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Westwood, Brentwood, Sherman Oaks, Studio City and North Hollywood.

“The recent tragedy in Aurora underscores—as have so many previous tragedies—the need for a national assault weapons ban. How many more Americans must die in mass shootings before we take this obvious, common-sense step?” said Feuer in a press statement. “Here in California we’ve outlawed these deadly, military-grade weapons. But that’s not enough. I urge the federal government to re-authorize the ban.”

California and seven other states have laws in effect that ban assault weapons. Many cities across the nation also prohibit such weapons. 

Feuer cited statistics showing that since the ban lapsed, 750 individuals have been shot by assault weapons, 350 of them killed.

The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, formed in aftermath of an assault weapons massacre at 101 California Street in San Francisco in 1993, applauded Feuer for the “timely resolution.”

“As the devastating tragedy in Aurora once again makes clear, military-style assault weapons simply have no place in civilian hands,” said Juliet Leftwich, Legal Director of the Law Center, in a press statement.

The resolution now moves to the state Senate. If approved, it will be sent directly to President Obama, the congressional leadership and California’s congressional delegation. Joint Resolutions do not require the Governor’s signature.

Feuer sponsored a in which LA County Sheriff Lee Baca and others joined in the call for a nationwide ban on the sale of military-style assault weapons.

Feuer has long been an advocate of laws which reduce gun violence. During his first term in the Assembly, Feuer wrote the Crime Gun Identification Act requiring semi-automatic handguns be "microstamped" via technology that imprints bullet cartridges with data establishing who purchased the gun.

While a member of the Los Angeles City Council (1994-2001), Feuer authored legislation limiting gun purchases to one per month, requiring background checks for gun store employees and prohibiting possession of easily concealable weapons.

Feuer, who will be termed out of the Assembly at the end of this year, is running for Los Angeles City Attorney in 2013.