By Vanguard Staff
Sacramento, CA – In the wake of the recent, horrific shootings in Buffalo, NY, and Uvalde, TX, and the nation’s long history of devastating firearm-related massacres, Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry announced she was supporting a package of gun control bills, adopted by the State Assembly to stem the scourge of mass shootings.
“We are the only country in the world where the regulation of guns and gun-ownership is treated with such callous disregard, where no place is safe, including places of worship, grocery stores and elementary schools,” said Aguiar-Curry. “I want to make very clear that these bills do nothing to infringe upon the rights of law-abiding gun owners. They are meant to increase attention to violence prevention, increase transparency, and promote registration of and accountability for gun manufacturers. These measures will help.”
She added: “Until the US Congress takes up such common sense measures as Congressman Mike Thompson’s HR 8, The Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021 and renews the ban 
on assault weapons and other implements of war, Californians will be at continued risk.”
The bill package includes:
- AB 2571 (Bauer-Kahan) Prohibits firearm industry members from marketing or advertising firearm-related products to minors and authorizes public attorneys and injured plaintiffs to bring a civil action to enforce the prohibition, obtain injunctive relief, and seek either civil penalties, or, in some cases, damages for harms caused by a violation.
- AB 1621 (Gipson) Changes the definition of a firearm and firearm precursor part and prohibits a person from possessing or manufacturing a firearm precursor part without authorization, seeking to address the rising problem of ghost guns..
- AB 2156 (Wicks) Reduces, from 50 to three, the number of firearms a person, firm or corporation may manufacture in a calendar year without having a state license to manufacture firearms. Also prohibits a person, firm or corporation from using a 3D printer to manufacture any firearm, including a frame or receiver, or any firearm precursor part, without having a state license to manufacture firearms.
- AB 2552 (McCarthy) Mandates additional notices related to the storage, handling, purchase and theft of a firearm be posted at each public entrance of any gun show, event or exposition and requires the California Dept. of Justice to inspect half of all gun shows and events every year.
- AB 1929 (Gabriel) Requires the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to establish a community violence prevention and recovery program, under which violence-preventive services are required to be provided by qualified violence prevention professionals as a covered benefit under the Medi-Cal program. Defines the eligibility of Medi-Cal beneficiaries for violence prevention services, and training and certification program and continuing education requirements for violence preventive professionals.
- AB 2239 (Maeinschein) Creates a 10-year firearm prohibition for individuals convicted of child abuse and elder and dependent adult abuse involving violence.
“Before I am an Assemblywoman, I am a mother and grandmother,” Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry said. “Too many mothers and grandmothers have buried their loved ones in the wake of violence like what we saw yesterday in Texas. I was proud to support these measures, which are supported by the vast majority of Americans and a majority of gun owners.”
More Americans died of gun-related injuries in 2020 than in any other year on record, according to recently published statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That included a record number of gun murders, as well as a near-record number of gun suicides. Nearly eight-in-ten (79 percent) U.S. murders in 2020 – 19,384 out of 24,576 – involved a firearm. That marked the highest percentage since at least 1968, the earliest year for which the CDC has online records.
“Too many Californians have faced what families in Uvalde faced last night – empty beds and broken hearts,” Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry said. “These bills will take real steps toward keeping guns out of the hands of those who would do harm.”
