Calguns Foundation: California’s Gun Confiscation Program Hits Firearm Owners Hard
OutdoorHub 02.07.14
Efforts by the California Department of Justice to disarm gun owners have led to apparent civil rights violations, gun group says.
Following numerous reports of improper arrests and firearm seizures throughout California, Roseville-based gun rights group The Calguns Foundation has issued a new warning to gun owners in the Golden State.
“Gun confiscation efforts pushed by Attorney General Kamala Harris have apparently led to unconstitutional arrests of regular, non-prohibited gun owners as well as the seizure of their firearms and ammunition,” said Brandon Combs, the group’s executive director and creator of the Foundation’s DOJ Watch project.
California’s Armed Prohibited Persons System, or ‘APPS’, firearms confiscation program was funded in 2013 through Senate Bill 140, authored by state legislators including San Diego-based senator Joel Anderson (R-Alpine). SB 140 re-appropriated money paid by gun buyers for background checks to APPS law enforcement actions, including the one which took firearms from Bakersfield, California resident Michael Merritt.
“These frightening raids, often carried out by heavily armed DOJ agents and local law enforcement agencies, aren’t just hitting violent criminals,” noted Combs. “What a sad day it is when even elderly law-abiding people need to be on the lookout for Ms. Harris’ gun-grabbing goons.”
Should you be contacted by law enforcement, be polite but prepared to exercise your rights. For instance, should a warrant be served upon you, do not physically resist the officers but do remain silent and contact your attorney as soon as possible. Do not consent to any search and remember that you are not required to volunteer information or open locked containers.
As part of its ongoing efforts to defend gun owners from malicious and improper prosecutions, The Calguns Foundation operates a Help Hotline for firearms related legal issues. Should you be the target of the DOJ’s APPS gun confiscation efforts or any other firearms-related law enforcement encounter, detainment, or arrest while in California, the Foundation suggests the following:
- Never consent to a search
- Exercise your right to remain silent
- Contact CGF’s Help Hotline through the online form at www.calgunsfoundation.org/hotline or call (800) 556-2109, open 24/7/365
- If you need immediate legal assistance, please contact an attorney (some firearms attorneys are listed on the CGF Help Hotline web page)
Visit www.calgunsfoundation.org/hotline for more information about The Calguns Foundation’s Help Hotline and to submit requests for assistance on urgent firearms-related legal matters.
