REGAINING MOMENTUM
the Senate and with the Governor. “The thing that surprised me most when I got to Sacramento was the animosity between the Assembly and the Senate,” Feuer said. “I quickly learned that nothing
The Vanderhoef letter turned back the tide of opposi-
is guaranteed.”
tion to the Feuer bill. The Wilcoxes were able to use the letter to persuade Cal Chiefs to agree to consider their
In the Senate, they had identified five key potential
endorsement at a later date. And because the letter was
swing votes: Michael Machado (D-Linden), Dean
so unusual—a chancellor casting doubt on the research
Florez (D-Shafter), Ron Calderon (D-Montebello),
of his own faculty—it was a convincing piece of evi-
Gloria Negrete McLeod (D-Montclair), and Denise
dence for legislators, the media, and even the national
Moreno Ducheny (D-San Diego). “We knew that
audience following the bill.
Ducheny was against us, Amanda Wilcox said. “Tami and James connected with Calderon, who was
A further boost came when Congressman Xavier
an ‘aye’ and Negrete McLeod, who was a ‘no.’ We
Becerra (D-Los Angeles) and U.S. Senator Edward M.
needed one more vote. We were a little concerned
Kennedy (D-MA), who was also the California First
about Senator Joseph Simitian (D-Palo Alto) and
Lady’s close uncle, announced that they planned to
arranged patch-through calls to him, and we
file federal microstamping legislation in Congress the
arranged more calls to Machado and Florez.”
following year. The California Brady chapters also organized a Lobby Day on May 23, 2007, where Police
At this point, Brian Malte, Kay Holmen, the Wilcoxes,
Chief Ken James, Chair of the Cal Chiefs Firearms
Tami Miller, James Jacks, Rebecca Marcus, and Joshua
sub-committee, spoke with several legislators. The
Horowitz began having weekly conference calls. Other
event was a success, and also had the important effect
staff from the Brady Campaign and Coalition Against
of proving to the Political Solutions staff that the
Gun Violence listened in. As the summer progressed,
volunteers they with which they were working were
representatives from the offices of Senator Kennedy
effective and professional.
and Representative Becerra also joined the calls. Malte emerged as the point person in the discussions,
AB 1471 was brought to a vote on the Assembly
constantly pushing the group on obtaining more
floor on May 30, where Feuer and his allies had been
favorable media coverage, placing op-eds, and meeting
confident they had the votes. The bill passed 44-29,
with newspaper editorial boards. The group also
along party lines. “Tami and James had done their job
picked a target date for the Senate vote around which
of counting the votes correctly and Mike Feuer did
to coordinate. It planned a demonstration of the
a great job at rebutting the opposition on the floor,”
technology in Los Angeles for late August.
Amanda Wilcox said. Small and medium successes continued to occur
THE SUMMER OF THE S T R AT E G Y T E A M
throughout the summer. To Feuer ’s surprise, the board of the Police Officers Research Association (PORAC), which had subjected him to mostly skeptical questions, voted to endorse the bill. The Bakersfield Californian, with a large conservative readership, ran an editorial
All along, Feuer and the Wilcoxes knew that the major
in support. So, too, did The Los Angeles Times.
challenge for the bill was not in the Assembly, but in
A supportive op-ed submitted by the Fresno Police Chief was circulated widely.
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