OMG!
.This means that the NRA was started by Liberauhlz,
so gun rights forever belong to Democrats.
. Whatever else could it mean?
Even though the NRA helped craft the bill, some scholars today blame the organization for egging on the Black Panthers march on the Capitol. A day before the march the NRA published an editorial in their magazine
American Rifleman titled “Who Guard’s America’s Homes?” The article pointed out how many National Guardsmen it took to put down recent civil unrest and asked what would happen if these soldiers were called overseas on active duty while there was major unrest at home. It also pointed out that cities were increasing their police forces exponentially, fomenting the fear that the formation of a police state was a very real possibility. For good measure they threw in a few examples of arbitrary gun laws being proposed that would make gun ownership more difficult. The conclusion that the article wanted the reader to reach is that the average American needs to arm themselves in order to protect against these likely threats. While it is possible that the NRA helped influence the Black Panther’s march, it is more likely that they had been planning it a few days in advance. If any of them even did read it, then the article would have only emboldened them and would not have been a direct cause. On top of this, not long after the Panther’s march and due to backlash from readers the NRA published a press release stating, “The NRA does not approve or support any group activities that properly belong to the national defense or police. The NRA does not approve or support any group that by force, violence, or subversion seeks to overthrow the Government and take the law into its hands, or that endorses or espouses doctrines of operation in an extralegal manner.”
Many people see the NRA as a bastion for gun rights and are shocked whenever they find out that the organization supported the Mulford Act. This shows a lack of understanding of what the NRA actually is. During the 1940s the organization saw a shift in views and began denouncing any and all hate groups, at one point it was even a requirement to condemn them in order to become a member. From this point up through the early 2000s the main focus of the NRA was hunting, target and sport shooting, and gun safety.
The
Mulford Act was a 1967
bill that prohibited
of loaded firearms. Named after
assemblyman
, and signed into law by governor of California
, the bill was crafted with the goal of disarming members of the
who were conducting armed patrols of Oakland neighborhoods, in what would later be termed
.
They garnered national attention after
members, bearing arms, marched upon the
to protest the bill.
[
]
Assembly Bill 1591 was introduced by
(R) from Oakland on April 5, 1967, and subsequently co-sponsored by
(D) from
,
(D) from
,
(R) from Santa Cruz,
(D) from Los Angeles, and
(R) from Bakersfield.
A.B 1591 was made an “urgency statute” under Article IV, §8(d) of the
after “an organized band of men armed with loaded firearms [...] entered the Capitol” on May 2, 1967;
as such, it required a 2/3 majority in each house. On June 8th, before the third reading in the Assembly (controlled by Democrats, 42:38), the urgency clause was adopted, and the bill was then read and passed.
It passed the Senate (controlled by Democrats, 20:19) on July 26 by 29 votes to 7,
and was signed by Governor
on July 28, 1967.
Both Republicans and Democrats in California supported increased gun control, as did the
of America.
Governor Ronald Reagan, who was coincidentally present on the capitol lawn when the protesters arrived, later commented that he saw "no reason why on the street today a citizen should be carrying loaded weapons" and that guns were a "ridiculous way to solve problems that have to be solved among people of good will." In a later press conference, Reagan added that the Mulford Act "would work no hardship on the honest citizen."
The bill was signed by Reagan and became
and
.
