STATEMENT: Gun Safety Groups Applaud the California State Assembly Public Safety Committee Taking Action to Keep Guns Out of the Hands of Convicted Hate Crime Offenders

Washington, DC –Americans for Responsible Solutions, the national gun violence prevention organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and retired NASA astronaut Captain Mark Kelly, and its partner organization, the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, today applauded the California State Assembly Public Safety Committee for advancing AB 785, a bill that will help keep guns out of dangerous hands, with unanimous bipartisan support. Current California state law prohibits persons who have been convicted of certain misdemeanors from purchasing or possessing firearms within 10 years of conviction. AB 785 will add convictions of hate crime misdemeanors to that list.

Ari Freilich, a staff attorney at Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, who testified at the California State House earlier today in support of AB 785, issued the following statement:

Between 2010 and 2014, roughly 43,000 hate crimes were committed in the United States involving the use or threatened use of a gun. AB 785 will help protect California residents from hate-motivated gun violence by:

• Keeping guns out of the hands of violent extremists and hate groups.
• Ensuring that individuals who have already demonstrated a propensity to escalate their bigotry into criminal conduct are temporarily prevented from possessing or acquiring firearms.

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