Dear Lawmaker,
As your constituent, I'd like to welcome you back to the statehouse and urge you to support two gun safety bills:
AB 28, the Gun Violence Prevention, Healing, and Recovery Act will support programs addressing different facets of gun violence and promote equal access to safety for all Californians. This bill creates the transformative Gun Violence Prevention, Healing, and Recovery Fund which will provide urgently needed, reliable, annual funding for vital programs, including life-saving community-based violence intervention and prevention programs, school mental health and school safety measures, trauma-informed support services to victims of mass shootings, firearm relinquishment programs to ensure people subject to domestic violence restraining orders and gun violence restraining orders do not remain illegally armed, programs to equitably improve investigations and clearance rates in firearm homicide and assault cases, and more.
Gun violence survivors and California taxpayers pay an enormous cost associated with gun violence, whether we own a firearm or not. Each year, gun violence costs California $41.9 billion, $1.1 billion of which is paid by California taxpayers. And while we bear the burden of tragic and costly gun violence, the gun industry continues to reap historic profits from selling firearms in our state. AB 28 would fund life-saving gun violence prevention programs by imposing a modest excise tax on firearm dealers and manufacturers based on their revenue from retail sales of firearms, firearm precursor parts, and ammunition.
SB 2 would raise the age for carrying a handgun in public to 21, set clear standards on who can and can't carry a concealed firearm, and ensure that guns won't be allowed in sensitive places like playgrounds, government buildings, or bars.
We're counting on you to support common-sense gun safety, gun violence survivors, and taxpaying Californians by supporting SB 2 and AB 28. Thank you.