While some California gun owners are turning in their illegal guns
for cash, others may have to turn them in
for nothing at all.
In a situation related to California's current buy back program
in which the state is offering $230 to gun owners in exchange for their
SKS "Sporter" rifles, owners of certain semiautomatics other than the
SKS "Sporter" may have to give up their firearms without compensation to
avoid facing criminal prosecution.
The same Roberti-Roos Assault Weapon Control Act of 1989 that created
all the confusion with the various models of the SKS is now creating
confusion again. This time, however, the debate won't just be over what
gun should be confiscated. It will be concerning the registration
deadline of the firearms mentioned in the Roberti-Roos law.
To lawfully possess one of the guns mentioned in the Roberti-Roos
law, Californians must have purchased the weapon before June 1, 1989,
according to Penal Code section 12280. To be fully compliant with state
law, the gun owner must also have registered the gun with the California
Department of Justice by March 30, 1992.
However, during the registration period, then Attorney General Dan
Lungren extended the registration period giving gun owners more time.
"It was Lungren's staff's interpretation that there was no firm date
when the registrations closed, and that's why they continued to do it,"
said Steve Helsley, a spokesperson for the National Rifle Association of
America.
But then on Aug. 21, 1998, the Superior Court in San Francisco handed
down a decision saying Lungren and his Justice Department had no
discretionary authority to register assault weapons as identified in the
Roberti-Roos law beyond the law's registration deadline.
Now, it is up to the current state attorney general, Bill Lockyer, to
decide how best to handle this new court decision.
WorldNetDaily obtained a copy of a proposed letter designed to notify
the estimated 1,550 assault weapons owners who were allowed to register
after March 30, 1992. The letter, dated June 8, 1999, would have told
the gun owners to turn in their registered weapons.
"You are advised to relinquish the assault weapon to a police or
sheriff's department pursuant to California Penal Code section 12288 or
render the weapon permanently inoperable," the letter said.
The letter also stated that the Justice Department would refund any
registration fee paid when the gun was registered. However, nowhere in
the letter did it mention any compensation for the firearm itself.
Regarding whether or not the letter had been sent out to anyone yet,
Mike
Broderick, assistant chief of the Bureau of Criminal Information and
Analysis at the Justice Department, said, "There has been nothing
released to anybody yet."
Broderick further stated the matter is still under litigation.
If the letters do go out, however, Helsley said the NRA will fight
the decision in court.
"If Lockyer decides to start confiscating guns -- which is clearly
what their plan is -- we're going to go to court immediately to stop
it," said Helsley.