Slain Officer’s Father to Hold Press Conference Against Proposition 63

The father of slain Palm Springs officer Leslie Zerebny is publicly opposing Proposition 63, an initiative through which Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom seeks to impose more gun control on law-abiding citizens.

Zerebny was killed in an ambush shooting on October 8. Officer Jose Vega was also shot and killed during the attack. The alleged gunman, John Felix, was a convicted felon who had a stolen AR-15 with a “scratched-off serial number” at the time of the attack.

There are already laws against stealing guns, against removing serial numbers, and against felons possessing firearms.

Moreover, California has universal background checks, an “assault weapons” ban, a 10-day waiting period on gun purchases, gun registration requirements, and firearm confiscation laws. But none of these laws hindered the alleged attacker — and, arguably, no new law would hinder such an attacker either.

New gun laws will make it even harder for law-abiding citizens to acquire the guns they need for self-defense. And in the case of Newsom’s Prop 63, which would require ammunition background checks, the state will make it harder for law-abiding citizens to acquire the ammunition they need for guns they already own.

For those who already have ammunition, Newsom’s gun control will limit the number of bullets law-abiding citizens can place in their guns, thereby giving criminals an immediate firepower advantage. This limitation on the number of allowable bullets would be the result of Newsom’s proposed “high capacity” magazine ban.

No aspect of Prop 63 would have saved the lives of the Palm Springs officers killed in the ambush.

Officer Zerebny’s father, David Kling, will be taking part in a press conference against Prop 63 on Monday. He will be joined by Jim Smith, president of the Los Angeles California Police Chiefs Association; George Hofstetter, president of the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs; and Michele Hanisee, president of the Association of Los Angeles Deputy District Attorneys.

The press conference will be held at the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs headquarters at 11 a.m Pacific Standard Time.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of “Bullets with AWR Hawkins,” a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.