June 19, 2018 - Republican lawmakers on Monday proposed allocating an additional $25 million to the Attorney General’s office to remove illegal guns from convicted felons and adults with severe mental illness.
“There are at least 10,000 people in California who are illegally in possession of guns,” said Senator Jim Nielsen (R-Tehama). “It is absolutely inexcusable that state officials have not gone to these individuals’ homes to collect these illegal weapons.”
Senate Republican Leader Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) said: “By the end of this June, the Attorney General’s office will have spent nearly $63 million in funding approved by both Democrats and Republicans since 2013 to take firearms from dangerous persons. It’s disappointing that there’s still a significant backlog in the APPS database. California needs to get all firearms out of the hands of criminals.”
Under the Republican proposal, the Attorney General’s office would receive an additional $12.5 million in 2018-19 and $12.5 million the following fiscal year to enforce this law. If the Attorney General does not eliminate at least half of the current backlog of 10,226 individuals by July 1, 2019, the money would then be available for local law enforcement agencies to remove illegal weapons from these prohibited individuals.
Created in 2006, the Armed Prohibited Persons System (APPS) is a database designed to collect guns from convicted felons and those with severe mental illness. It also cross-references gun buyers against a list of people convicted of crimes or who are otherwise prohibited from possession due to mental health problems or domestic violence convictions.
The Sacramento Democrat majority rejected Republicans’ aggressive proposal to remove guns from felons.
Senate Republican Leader Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) represents the 36th Senate District in the California Legislature, which covers South Orange County, North San Diego County and Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. Follow her on Twitter & Facebook.
Elected to the State Senate in January 2013, Senator Jim Nielsen (R-Tehama) represents the Fourth Senate District, which includes the counties of Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Tehama and Yuba. Please follow him on Twitter & Facebook.
Source: Senate Republicans