BILL NUMBER: AJR 5 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 4, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gomez
JANUARY 17, 2013
Relative to firearms the Los Angeles River
.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AJR 5, as amended, Gomez. Firearms: assault weapons.
Los Angeles River: ARBOR study alternative 20.
This measure would urge the President and Congress of the
United States to support and pass Senator Dianne Feinstein's
proposed legislation prohibiting the sale, transfer, importation, and
manufacturing of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines
United States Army Corps of Engineers to select ARBOR
study alternative 20, which would serve to revitalize communities and
create a more functional and interconnected watershed that will
provide a more diverse regional ecological system and restore the
functionality of the Los Angeles River as a critical natural and
cultural heritage and community resource .
Fiscal committee: no.
WHEREAS, The Los Angeles River flows roughly 51 miles from its
origin in the San Fernando Valley to the Long Beach Harbor and is 32
miles long within the City of Los Angeles; and
WHEREAS, Within the City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles River
flows through three United States congressional districts, eight city
council districts for the City of Los Angeles, approximately 20
neighborhood councils, 12 community plan areas, the second largest
urban region in the United States, and one of the world's busiest
port regions, and flows into the Pacific Ocean, the world's largest
body of water; and
WHEREAS, The Los Angeles River corridor is home to more than one
million people, more than 390,000 housing units, more than 480,000
workers, more than 35,000 businesses, and more than 80 schools; and
WHEREAS, The Los Angeles River flows through historically
disadvantaged communities and underserved neighborhoods of Los
Angeles that lack open-space resources and have high unemployment
rates; and
WHEREAS, The County of Los Angeles, the State of California, the
federal government, and an incredible number of nonprofit groups and
organizations have been invaluable partners in the process of
developing and now implementing the Los Angeles River Revitalization
Master Plan; and
WHEREAS, The goals of the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master
Plan include improving environmental quality, improving public access
to the Los Angeles River, increasing recreation and open spaces,
enhancing flood control, encouraging community reinvestment, and
increasing awareness and pride in the Los Angeles River; and
WHEREAS, In 2006, recognizing the environmental degradation
occurring in and along the Los Angeles River within the boundaries of
the City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles City Council authorized the
Board of Public Works of the City of Los Angeles to execute an
agreement with the United States Army Corps of Engineers for the Los
Angeles River Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study, also known as
the ARBOR study, committing the City of Los Angeles to a 50 percent
share of the cost as local sponsor. In 2009, the cost increased when
the total ARBOR study cost was raised to $9,710,000; and
WHEREAS, The ARBOR study is consistent with the goals of President
Obama's America's Great Outdoors Initiative, which includes
direction to reconnect Americans, especially children, to America's
rivers and waterways and to build upon state, local, private, and
tribal priorities for the conservation of land, water, wildlife, and
historic and cultural resources, creating corridors and connectivity
across these outdoor spaces, and for enhancing neighborhood parks. In
the President's America's Great Outdoors Initiative, federal
agencies are asked to determine how the federal government can best
advance these priorities through public-private partnerships and
locally supported conservation strategies; and
WHEREAS, The Los Angeles River watershed was selected as one of
only seven nationwide first-phase pilots of the Urban Waters Federal
Partnership, an implementation piece of President Obama's America's
Great Outdoors Initiative, which aims to stimulate regional and local
economies, create local jobs, improve quality of life, and protect
American's health by revitalizing urban waterways in underserved
communities across the country and the ARBOR study was selected as
the top priority of the Urban Waters Federal Partnership in Los
Angeles; and
WHEREAS, In 2013, the United States Army Corps of Engineers
developed a final array of the four best buy alternatives for the
ARBOR study and only one of those alternatives includes both
significant restoration at the Los Angeles River's confluence with
the Verdugo Wash near the City of Los Angeles's border with the City
of Glendale and the only substantial western bank connection,
providing a profound hydrological link between the Los Angeles State
Historic Park (Cornfields site) and the Los Angeles River, leveraging
a significant investment made by the State of California toward
restoration of the Los Angeles River; and
WHEREAS, The City of Los Angeles endorses the ARBOR study
alternative 20 that results in the most expansive ecosystem
restoration, specifically that which includes the following
priorities for the City of Los Angeles:
(a) Verdugo Wash Confluence.
(b) Taylor Yard/Bowtie.
(c) Taylor Yard/G-2.
(d) Arroyo Seco Confluence.
(e) Cornfields Los Angeles State Historic Park.
(f) Piggyback Yard (Union Pacific Railroad); and
WHEREAS, Once complete, the ARBOR study will recommend a project
that will be cost-shared by the United States Army Corps of Engineers
and local sponsors to modify the river's concrete channel
significantly for the first time since the river was channelized by
the United States Army Corps of Engineers in the early to mid 1900s.
The project will be one of the largest examples of urban ecosystem
restoration; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, BY THE ASSEMBLY AND THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF
CALIFORNIA JOINTLY, That the Legislature urges the United States Army
Corps of Engineers to select the ARBOR study alternative 20, which
would serve to revitalize communities and create a more functional
and interconnected watershed that will provide a more diverse
regional ecological system and restore the functionality of the Los
Angeles River as a critical natural and cultural heritage and
community resource; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative
from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the
Commanding General and Chief of Engineers of the United States Army
Corps of Engineers.
WHEREAS, Assault weapons are a class of semiautomatic firearms
designed with military features that allow those weapons to shoot
large amounts of fire quickly and accurately. They are
distinguishable from standard sporting firearms by features such as
pistol grips and the ability to accept a detachable magazine; and
WHEREAS, Assault weapons have been used in many shootings,
including the December 14, 2012, Newtown, Connecticut, school
shooting where a man used a .223 caliber Bushmaster semiautomatic
assault rifle with a 30-round magazine resulting in the deaths of 20
children and six adults; and
WHEREAS, The federal assault weapons ban, passed in 1994 with the
strong leadership of Senator Dianne Feinstein, banned certain models
of semiautomatic assault weapons and large-capacity magazines that
hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. The ban expired on September
13, 2004, and has not been reauthorized; and
WHEREAS, A United States Department of Justice study found that
the federal assault weapons ban was responsible for a 6.7 percent
decline in total gun murders; and
WHEREAS, The use of assault weapons in crime declined by more than
two-thirds by about nine years after the 1994 federal assault
weapons ban took place; and
WHEREAS, Since the expiration of the federal assault weapons ban,
37 percent of police departments reported seeing a noticeable
increase in criminals' use of assault weapons; and
WHEREAS, Since the expiration of the federal assault weapons ban,
assault weapons have been used in at least 459 incidents, resulting
in 385 deaths and 455 injuries; and
WHEREAS, Senator Feinstein has announced that she will introduce a
bill in January 2013 to ban the sale, transfer, importation, and
manufacturing of military-style assault weapons and large-capacity
magazines; and
WHEREAS, The proposed legislation will cover 120 specifically
named firearms, certain other firearms that can accept a detachable
magazine and have one or more military characteristics, and
large-capacity magazines capable of accepting more than 10 rounds;
and
WHEREAS, The proposed legislation will strengthen the 1994 federal
assault weapons ban by moving from a two characteristic test to a
one characteristic test, adding a ban on the importation of assault
weapons and large-capacity magazines, and eliminating the 10-year
sunset that allowed the original ban to expire; and
WHEREAS, The proposed legislation will require that grandfathered
weapons be registered under the National Firearms Act, bans the
transfer of grandfathered large capacity magazines, imposes a safe
storage requirement for grandfathered firearms, and establishes a
voluntary buy-back program for grandfathered assault weapons and
large-capacity magazines; and
WHEREAS, The proposed legislation protects legitimate hunters and
the rights of existing gun owners by grandfathering weapons legally
possessed on the date of enactment, exempting over 900 specifically
named weapons used for hunting and sporting purposes, and exempting
antique, manually operated, and permanently disabled weapons; and
WHEREAS, Senator Feinstein has been working with her staff for
over a year on this proposed legislation to take the most dangerous
weapons of war off the streets while protecting the rights of gun
owners; and
WHEREAS, Because our borders are porous and only a small number of
states regulate assault weapons and large-capacity magazines,
without a comprehensive federal law even states that take steps to
protect their communities from these weapons are vulnerable to
criminals who use them; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature urges the President and the
Congress of the United States to support and pass Senator Feinstein'
s proposed legislation prohibiting the sale, transfer, importation,
and manufacturing of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines;
and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative
from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the
author for appropriate distribution.