California bill would take guns from those in the ‘Hate Crime Loophole’

By Chris Eger

California Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, argues his bill could help disarm those who may have violent tendencies foreshadowed by minor civil rights-related crimes. (Photo: Assembly Democratic Caucus)
The California Senate Public Safety Committee is set to hear an Assembly bill on Tuesday that would strip gun rights from those convicted of misdemeanor hate crimes.
The measure, AB 785, passed the Assembly in May without a single “no” vote and is backed by Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, who argues it could help disarm those who may have violent tendencies foreshadowed by minor crimes.
“Violent extremists and hate groups often use firearms as tools of force and intimidation,” said Jones-Sawyer in a note to lawmakers. “Recent mass murders targeting our nation’s LGBT, African American, and religious minority communities — shootings at the nightclub in Orlando, an historic church in Charleston, and a Sikh temple in Oak Creek — were among the deadliest hate crimes ever committed in our nation’s history.”
His bill, the Disarm Hate Act, adds to the state’s already existing list of misdemeanor crimes that result in an automatic 10-year prohibition on possessing a firearm. The additions would include those who are convicted of misdemeanor interference with another person’s civil rights or

Source: Guns.com