Mulford Act
| Mulford Act | |
|---|---|
| California | |
| Enacted by | Ronald Reagan |
| Date passed | 1967 |
| Date enacted | 1967 |
| Legislative history | |
| Bill | Firearms law |
| Bill published on | 1967 |
| Introduced by | Don Mulford |
The Mulford Act was a 1967 California bill that repealed a law allowing public carrying of loaded firearms. Named after Republican assemblyman Don Mulford, the bill was crafted in response to members of the Black Panther Party who were conducting armed patrols of Oakland neighborhoods while they were conducting what would later be termed copwatching. They garnered national attention after the Black Panthers marched bearing arms upon the California State Capitol to protest the bill.[1][2]
Republicans in California supported increased gun control. Governor Ronald Reagan was present when the protesters arrived and 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."[3]
The bill was signed by Reagan and became California penal code 25850 and 171c.
References
- ↑ "From "A Huey P. Newton Story"". Retrieved 2010-07-07.
- ↑ "How to Stage a Revolution Introduction". Retrieved 2010-07-07.
- ↑ Winkler, Adam (September 2011). "The Secret History of Guns". The Atlantic.
Further reading
- Leonardatos, Cynthia Deitle (1999). "California's Attempts to Disarm the Black Panthers". San Diego Law Review. 36 (4): 947.
- Hemmens, Craig (July 2000). "Resisting Unlawful Arrest in Mississippi: Resisting the Modern Trend". California Criminal Law Review. 2 (1). doi:10.2139/ssrn.235760.
- Hampton, Henry; Fayer, Steve (2011). "Birth of the Black Panthers, 1966–1967". Voices of Freedom: An Oral History of the Civil Rights Movement from the 1950s Through the 1980s. Random House. pp. 349–72. ISBN 978-0-307-57418-3.
- Sanders, Kindaka (2015). "A Reason to Resist: The Use of Deadly Force in Aiding Victims of Unlawful Police Aggression". San Diego Law Review. 52 (3): 695–750.