Poll Taxes, Literacy Tests & Gun Licenses
                     By:  Senator Ray Haynes
                         August 4, 2000

  One of the great successes of the Civil Rights movement of the 
1960's was imprinting the concept that a right that was taxed was
a right that was denied.  Everyone now understands that the 
institution of poll taxes was a racist attempt to prevent 
minorities from exercising their right to vote.  Charging people 
to vote is now strictly forbidden in this country.  Similarly, 
the imposition of literacy tests was another thinly veiled 
attempt to prevent the uneducated and minorities from 
participating in elections.  It was defended with lofty rhetoric 
about the need for our elections to be protected from the ignorant. 

  Literacy tests were written to ensure that only the elite could
vote, guaranteeing their ability to control government.  They are
now seen as the infringement on the right to vote they were 
intended to be.   Why, if poll taxes and literacy tests are both 
now universally understood to be shameful blots on our nation's 
history, are we about to make the same mistake again?

  AB 273, by Assemblyman Scott, applies the principles of poll 
taxes and literacy tests to the right to keep and bear arms.  If 
his bill becomes law, it will set up a series of hurdles between 
law-abiding citizens, and their right to self-defense, as well as
their right to keep and bear arms.

  This bill would require that before anyone purchases a handgun,
they must first acquire a handgun safety license, which requires:

1) Filling out an application from your police department, 
requiring various forms of ID, including fingerprints and photo 
identification, and a list of all currently owned handguns, 
including serial number, make and model of each firearm (Initial 
cost estimated to be $12);

2) A safe handling demonstration for various types of handguns, 
criteria for passing to be determined by the state Department of 
Justice, and performed in front of a police certified instructor 
(costs unknown). 

3) Passing a written test, developed by the Department of Justice
and administered by a police certified instructor including the
following topics - the laws applicable to carrying and handling 
firearms, current law relating to transfer and sale of firearms, 
current laws relating to use of lethal force, safe firearms 
storage practices, and risks associated with bringing a handgun 
into the home, (costs of all this is unknown).  

4) Completion of a shooting proficiency demonstration, the 
content and standards for which will be developed by the 
Department of Justice, to be performed for a police certified 
instructor (costs unknown).  

5) The Police Department then has two days to forward the 
completed application to the Department of Justice, who has ten 
days to approve or disapprove the license ($20 fee).  

6) If approved, the license is mailed to the citizen.   The newly 
licensed citizen may now buy a firearm, but must still fill out 
an application to purchase a handgun, a handgun registration form, 
and pay a $15 fee.   They must also wait 10 days for another 
background check.  

7) If this citizen moves and forgets to promptly notify the 
Department of Justice, they would be fined $100 and have his 
license suspended for one year, making licensed, law-abiding gun 
owners roughly as accountable to police for their whereabouts as 
serial sex offenders. 

8) This license will have to be renewed every five years.

  Since felons don't purchase their guns legally to begin with, 
this means that only the law-abiding citizens will be forced to 
pay what might cost hundreds of dollars and wait several months 
to purchase or inherit a single handgun.   What do you expect the
results of such a law will be?  First of all, the poor or 
infirmed who don't have the mobility or money to jump through the
hoops or pay the fees will be unable to lawfully acquire the 
means to defend themselves.  Furthermore, given the hostility of 
our state's Department of Justice to the right of self-defense, 
it is likely that the tests and demonstrations designed by them 
will fail all but the most accomplished applicants.  After all, 
what is the standard for "shooting proficiency?"  Is it the 
ability to hit a bullseye at 25 yards, or is it merely being able
to hit a human sized target at 3-7 yards (the distance of most 
armed encounters)?  Will it drive law-abiding gun owners 
underground as they refuse to submit to unreasonable, 
unconstitutional restraints on their rights?

  How much will this new program cost the State of California?  
Some of the cost will clearly be born by the applicant through 
the fees paid, but maintaining the database and creating and 
maintaining these new tests and demonstrations will result in 
significant new costs which will be underwritten by the taxpayer.
Canada recently began a licensing and registration program for 
firearms with disastrous results.  According to the extremely 
anti-gun Violence Policy Center, "The government originally 
estimated that the cost of licensing Canada's three million gun 
owners and registering their seven million guns would be  $185 
million over five years including a one-time start-up cost of $85 
million.  But by March 2000 the Canadian Firearms Centre admitted
that the system had already cost Canadian taxpayers $327 million 
and was running up an annual bill nearly 10 times higher than the
government's original forecast" (www.vpc.org).  This is despite 
the fact that they have only issued 142,000 new licenses
(compared to three million gun owners) during this time!  At $327
million, that works out to over $2,300 per license.  When one 
considers the fact that California has more gun owners and more 
handguns than the entire nation of Canada, you begin to 
understand the scope of the problem.  

  This undertaking will require the establishment of a DMV-style 
bureaucracy to implement a costly, complicated program that can't
guarantee a reduction in violent crime. We already have a Basic 
Firearms Safety Test that must be passed before you may purchase 
a handgun.  We have a ten-day waiting period and complete 
background check.  We already register handguns and have laws 
dealing with the safe storage and misuse of firearms.  Why do we 
need an entirely new program to do more of what has already been 
proven unsuccessful?

  We don't.  They need it, however, because their eventual goal 
is to ban handguns entirely, as several members of the Assembly 
admitted openly on the floor of the legislature last year.  Every
step they can take to make it more difficult to exercise your 
rights is one more step towards eliminating that right completely.

  We must not let fear of violent crime blind us to the fact that 
this is no different than poll taxes and literacy tests.  This 
bill can still be stopped.  It must still pass the floor of the 
Senate and the Assembly and be signed by the Governor.  Contact 
the Governor at (916) 445-4341.  Tell him to convince his 
Democratic colleagues in the Legislature to oppose this bad bill.  
Barring that, demand a veto from him if it reaches his desk.  
Earlier this year, he said he would oppose any new gun control 
bills until we could judge the effects of the massive gun control
bills we passed last year.  Hold him to that promise-call him 
today.

                              # # #

Senator Haynes represents the 36th Senate District, encompassing 
Western Riverside County and Northern San Diego County.  He is 
also the Senate Republican Whip.  For more information, or a copy
of his editorial on the folly of "Licensing Guns like we License 
Cars" please contact our office at (909) 782-4111.