Vote Blocked on Calif. Bill to Ban Gun Reloading Clips

The California Assembly will not consider legislation banning detachable magazines that enable the quick reloading of semiautomatic assault weapons, a measure designed to close a loophole in the state's gun control laws.

 

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the bill, introduced last year by Democratic state Sen. Leland Yee , was strongly opposed by the National Rifle Association, which called it "California's worst gun confiscation threat in 20 years.”

 

But it was Assembly Appropriations Chairman Mike Gatto, a Democrat, who canceled a hearing on the bill Thursday out of concern that amendments added to it could lead to expensive lawsuits. He said if gun advocates won in court, it would end up actually undermining California's gun control laws, the Chronicle reported.

 

"We could end up where this bill did the exact opposite of what it was designed to do," Gatto said, adding he couldn't understand how the bill ended up in his appropriations committee in the first place.

 

Yee vowed to reintroduce the legislation next year.

 

"This issue is not going to go away," he said. "Every day you hear about someone who is killed because of an assault weapon or an automatic weapon. You got to do something about it."