Not for the Democratic supermajority in the California Legislature. More than two dozen gun control bills are being voted on this week. And while lawmakers are making a pretense of having difficulty voting for their passage, the bills are being passed. Several gun control bills have passed out of both houses of the Legislature and already await the governor's signature.

“I don't see anybody switching teams here,” quipped Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, in the busy Assembly gallery Wednesday.

Of the original 40 gun control bills, 29 made it into the committee hearing process.

Senate Bill 396

Critics contend the most restrictive of the gun control bills, SB396 by Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, is constitutionally questionable. The bill would retroactively confiscate guns lawfully purchased and owned. SB396 would ban the possession of all standard capacity magazines over 10 rounds, which generally means any detachable ammunition feeding device with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

The bill language specifies, “Surrender the larger capacity magazine to a law enforcement agency for destruction.”

“This bill is going to say, if you own a Glock, you're a criminal,” Donnelly said. “By taking away capacity of individuals determined to kill, also takes away capacity for people to defend their own lives. We never hear about the millions of times each year people defend their lives and homes. Why do we in Sacramento believe we have the right to interfere with the right to self defense?”

“I am deeply concerned with taking private property by state government,” said Assemblywoman Marie Waldron, R-Escondido.

“The Constitution says government cannot seize private property,” said Assemblywoman Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield. “I just pray to God Jerry Brown is the savior of the Second Amendment in this state.”

The bill failed to pass, 34-33, the first time it was voted on, and could only muster 39-34 on the second vote; 41 votes are needed to pass. Some say Hancock and Assemblyman Anthony Rendon, D-South Gate, will push for another vote Thursday.

Passed both houses

All the following bills passed both houses of the Legislature.

Senate Bill 374

SB374 by state Senate Pres. Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, expands the definition of “assault weapons” to ban the future transfer of all semi-automatic rifles that accept detachable magazines. SB374 requires new “assault weapon” registration; requires the registration of all those semi-auto rifles that are currently possessed in order to retain legal possession in the future; and subjects these firearms to all other “assault weapon” restrictions. The Assembly passed SB374 on Tuesday along party lines, 44-31.

Senate Bill 567

SB 567 by state Sen. Hannah Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, would expand the definition of “short-barreled shotguns” that are illegal to reclassify even handguns shooting “Shot-shells” as shotguns. SB 567 had trouble passing the first time around, but on the second try passed the Assembly, 41-34.

Assembly Bill 48

At a hearing in April, Berkeley Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner said, “bullets are the very thing making guns deadly.” Her AB48 prohibits the sale of gun kits to convert conventional firearms into semi-automatic weapons.

AB48 would also ban the manufacture, sale or import of any device that enables a gun to fire more than 10 rounds at one time. Apparently guns are bad, but bullets are worse.

AB48 originally required dealers selling ammunition to to notify federal and local officials when someone purchases more than 3,000 bullets. “But this gave some heartache,” Skinner said in the Assembly today. “So I took out that part — it's been struck from the bill,” as a nod to hunters and sportsmen.

“The bill allows our assault weapons ban to be in tact,” Skinner explained. “Now legally you can buy and sell conversion kits, so they can shoot many, many more than 10 rounds, and convert your conventional weapon to an assault weapon. Now the bill would make it illegal to purchase or sell the conversion clip kits.”

“This is inviting the government to spy on us becasue we want to exercise our Second Amendment right,” said Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Hesperia. “We voted to stop filling or jails with those who possess drugs. But now we want to arrest people possessing bullets and metal parts. We are setting ourselves up to become instruments of tyranny. It's just going to turn a whole lot of innocent people into criminals.”

“This bill says any part of a conversion kit makes me a criminal?” said Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, R-Riverside. “I don't think so. We are going back to this timeless discussion on the Assembly floor of reducing crime. 'Assault' is a behavior, not a type of weapon. If they can't do it with a gun, they'll find a way to do it with something else.”

But AB48 was passed, 42-30.

AB 711, by Assemblyman Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, would make California the first state in the nation to prohibit the use of all lead ammunition for hunting.  According to Sam Paredes with Gun Owners of California, extensive research has shown that traditional lead ammunition does not pose a health hazard for hunters. And a recent study found that, despite 99 percent hunter compliance, a ban on using lead ammunition in certain areas of the state under AB 821 of 2008 failed to reduce lead poisoning in condors.

AB 180, by Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, would repeal state firearms preemption in Oakland by allowing the city to enact ordinances more restrictive than state laws on the registering and licensing of firearms. AB 180 would allow the city of Oakland to create anti-gun policies much more strict than the rest of the state. Criminals still could get guns in other California cities, or in Nevada.

AB 231, by Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, would expand the law pertaining to the storage of firearms.  This bill would make it a crime if a child gets access to an unlocked firearm. According to Gun Owners of California, AB 231 is a misguided proposal that imposes unprecedented liability on legal gun owners.

Senate anti-gun bills

SB 475, by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, would allow San Francisco officials to ban gun shows in the Cow Palace at the Fairgrounds, one of the last remaining legal gun venues in the city.

SB 374, by Sen. President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, would ban the sale of all semiautomatic centerfire rifles with a detachable magazine, even with bullet buttons attached. And it redefines these firearms as “assault weapons.”  This legislation would ban most common hunting rifles, including the Marlin Camp Carbines (.45acp and 9mm), Remington M81 “Woodmaster,”  Winchester M1905, BAR MK II, BAR Short Trac, Ruger Mini 14, Ruger Ranch Rifle, M1 Carbine.  SB 374 would also require registration of currently owned detachable magazine rifles.

SB 396, by Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, is one of the most repressive gun control bills. The bill would retroactively confiscate guns lawfully purchased and owned. SB 396 would ban the possession of all standard capacity magazines over 10 rounds, which generally means any detachable ammunition feeding device with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

However, a 2001 study from the Jerry Lee Center of Criminology, University of Pennsylvania, found “no evidence of reductions in multiple-victim gun homicides or multiple-gunshot wound victimizations” as a result of the federal ban on standard capacity magazines.

SB 567, by Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, would redefine the meaning of a shotgun. SB 567  would remove from the Penal Code the requirement that a shotgun be fired from the shoulder, change the definition to include rifled bores, and make any weapon for which shotshell-type ammunition exists a “shotgun.”

SB 567 would also ban the sale of shotguns that have a revolving cylinder and requires registration of these currently owned shotguns.

SB 683, by Sen. Marty Block, D-Los Angeles, expands California’s handgun safety certificate requirement to apply to all firearms, and would prohibit anyone from purchasing or transferring any firearm without a firearm safety certificate.

SB 755, by Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, would expand the list of persons prohibited from owning a firearm.

The Assembly Appropriations Committee recently sent four anti-gun bills to the suspense file, but those can be heard at any time.

Bullets make guns deadly

One of the bills on the suspense file is Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner’s AB 48, which would ban the sale of magazine parts kits that can hold more than 10 cartridges, and require mandatory reporting of law-abiding citizens who purchase more than 3,000 rounds of ammunition within a five-day period.

AB 48 requires the reporting of ammunition sales, requires the licensing of ammunition dealers, and establishes other controls on ammunition sales similar to current controls on firearms sales.

And AB 48 makes it illegal for gun owners to purchase parts that allow them to convert their guns into assault-style weapons that can fire more than 10 rounds of bullets without reloading.

Skinner, D-Berkeley, says it’s easier to buy bullets than to buy alcohol, cigarettes or certain cold medicines. “Sales of some cold medicines are reported to the Department of Justice but not ammunition sales,” Skinner said at a hearing in April. “We expect to show ID to buy alcohol or tobacco, but there is no such requirement for bullets.”

But Skinner is putting the target on lawful gun owners, who purchase ammunition and gun kits legally from gun stores. Criminals don’t shop for legal gun merchandise at gun stores.

Mounting evidence

If history is right, more gun control laws always means more crime and government control. American cities with the strictest gun ownership laws, such as Chicago, also have the highest crime and murder rates.

Interestingly, according to safety expert Steve Curtis, “criminals are generally in favor of more stringent gun controls because it makes their criminal activities safer.”

“Rather than following the progressive model of gun control, where law-abiding citizens are disarmed and only criminals possess firearms that worked so well in Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, Australia and Britain, Americans should be looking at the immense success of “universal” gun ownership in places like Switzerland or Kennesaw, GA,” Curtis said. In Kennesaw, all citizens are required to own at least one firearm and keep ammunition, resulting in the lowest crime rate of any city its size in America. ”

Crime statistics show the downward trend is positive, as word of the “armed city” spreads.