BILL NUMBER:  SB 374
  VETOED	DATE: 10/11/2013




To the Members of the California State Senate:

I am returning Senate Bill 374 without my signature.

The State of California already has some of the strictest gun laws in
the country, including bans on military-style assault rifles and
high-capacity ammunition magazines.

While the author's intent is to strengthen these restrictions, this
bill goes much farther by banning any semi-automatic rifle with a
detachable magazine.  This ban covers low-capacity rifles that are
commonly used for hunting, firearms training, and marksmanship
practice, as well as some historical and collectible firearms.
Moreover, hundreds of thousands of current gun owners would have to
register their rifles as assault weapons and would be banned from
selling or transferring them in the future.

Today I signed a number of bills that strengthen California's gun
laws, including AB 48, which closes a loophole in the existing ban on
dangerous high-capacity magazines.  I also signed ABŠ1131 and
SBŠ127, which restrict the ability of mentally unstable people to
purchase or possess guns.

I don't believe that this bill's blanket ban on semi-automatic rifles
would reduce criminal activity or enhance public safety enough to
warrant this infringement on gun owners' rights.

Sincerely,



Edmund G. Brown Jr.