Gun Rights Groups Announce Recall Campaigns Against California Lawmakers

SACRAMENTO (KCBS) — Gun rights advocates announced on Thursday that they will attempt to recall Assembly Speaker John Perez and four other Democratic legislators for enacting a series of new control laws in California.

Emboldened by the recall of two Colorado Democrats who voted for gun control, the people who ran that campaign are targeting California's Assembly Speaker and four more Democrats and announced their intentions in a press conference on the steps of the state capitol building.

They think are in vulnerable positions in swing districts.

Conservative Republican Assemblyman Tim Donnelly endorses the recall and is running for governor to try to unseat Governor Brown, who signed 11 of the gun bills into law. Those laws, he told KCBS, have led to a groundswell of grass-roots support.

"People are going to be surprised at how much support there is from the black and Latino community, urban communities—there it's not about hunting; it's about self defense and being able to defend yourself against crime," Donnelly said.

But Perez' press secretary. Steve Maviglo, is dismissive of the recall threat and that doesn't stand much a chance.

"I think it's more of publicity stunt for Assembly Member Donnelly, who's desperately trying to get some traction in his run for governor," he said.

"I don't think there's any money or reality behind it and if it makes the ballot, I think the last numbers in the field poll show that 83 percent of Californians favor common-sense gun control measures that the Speaker and the Assembly Democrats have moved forward on. So I don't think it will stand much of a chance."

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

In:
• California