SACRAMENTO, CA— San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris and Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) will be available for comment immediately after hearings on AB 2948, a bill banning gun shows at the Cow Palace, and AB 2809, a bill providing counseling and other assistance to young witnesses of violent crime. The bills will be heard back-to-back in the Assembly Public Safety Committee on Tuesday, April 8, 2008, which begins at 9 a.m., Leno and Harris will be available for comment at approximately at 10 a.m.
WHAT: Assembly Public Safety Committee & Press Availability
WHEN: Tuesday, April 8, 2008
TIME: After AB 2948 and AB 2809 are heard, approximately 10 a.m.
WHERE: Hallway outside Room 126, State Capitol, Sacramento 95814
AB 2809 will expand eligibility for minors who are witnesses to violent crime so they can apply for reimbursement from the Victims Compensation and Government Claims Board for counseling and other related expenses.
AB 2948 will prohibit the sale of firearms and ammunition at the Cow Palace, thereby ending gun shows at this state-owned facility and help reduce gun violence in the neighboring residential communities of Daly City and San Francisco.
“Too many of our children are living in a war zone,” said Assemblyman Mark Leno. “We need to get guns out of our communities and assist our children who have witnessed horrific acts of violence in their own communities.”
San Francisco District Attorney, Kamala Harris, who is sponsoring the measures said, "We need to take back our communities by getting illegal guns off our streets and making sure that our young people already tragically impacted by violence get the treatment they need to be made whole."
Gun violence is rising in San Francisco. Over the last three years, 85% of all homicides were committed with firearms, compared to only 60% in 2001. From January 2004 to August 2007, there were 142 homicides in the Bayview and Ingleside neighborhoods, which constitutes 43% of all homicides in the City.
For those joining in gay marriages today, the road from outlaw status to respectability was paved in the Legislature over three decades.
From decriminalizing sex between same-sex couples, to outlawing job discrimination against homosexuals, to adding gay members to the legislative roster, the government has been taking steps, measure-by-measure, that have led to gay couples joining hands in marriage ceremonies across the state.
