EXTERNAL WORK
While the Feuer bill was under consideration, the Brady campaign was reorganizing its California operation. Its one paid staff person was leaving. Brian Malte, the Washington DC-based director of state legislation
“liked big, high visibility initiatives” and, unlike most of the players in Sacramento, he viewed himself performing on a national stage. Additionally, for the national Brady campaign, California was to be just the first state in the country to require microstamping; there were 49 more.
for the Brady Campaign, stepped in to play a larger role in developing strategy for passage of the bill. Instead of immediately hiring a replacement, Malte advocated using the salary savings to hire a professional contract lobbying firm that would work on the microstamping bill. Malte and the Wilcoxes interviewed four such firms. They chose Political Solutions, a Sacramento organization noted for its political ties to
THE GUN LOBBY FIGHTS BACK Heading into May 2007, the microstamping bill was beginning to gain momentum. At the Assembly Appropriations Committee, James Jacks appeared in
Republican as well as Democratic leaders.
support of the bill, surprising members of the gun
Political Solutions offered its services at a reduced rate.
good ties to Republicans. Feuer had also taken the
Staffers Tami Miller, whose portfolio largely consisted of real estate and land-use clients, and James Jacks, who had worked for former Governor Pete Wilson and then Secretary of State Bruce McPherson, became the principal lobbyists. “Political Solutions was my top choice,” said Amanda Wilcox. “They were prepared, smart, easy to talk to, and I felt a very good connection. I knew that we needed someone who would appreciate and value the work of the chapters. Tami, in particular, became emotionally invested in the bill. She told me that whenever she heard or thought of
lobby that the other side had a lobbyist, and one with unusual step of arranging meetings with the boards of the two major state law enforcement organizations, the California Police Chiefs Association and the Police Officers Research Association (PORAC). For the NRA and its allies, it began to appear that this battle would be a tougher fight than was the Koretz bill. The gun lobby had prevailed in the previous session by arguing against microstamping on the grounds that the technology was unproven in the field. It would be prohibitively expensive for manufacturers.
Laura’s story, she was deeply impacted.”
It would raise costs for law enforcement because they
At the time, the Wilcoxes believed they were hiring
Most crimes, they argued, are committed with stolen
a firm to concentrate on one Senate vote, Michael Machado, a centrist Democrat in a politically-diverse
microstamped guns would be much more expensive. guns and the shells would simply trace back to the original owners, leading to their false arrests.
district. (Another Political Solutions staff member had previously worked in Machado’s office.) In addition, the firm would focus on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Soon, however, Feuer, Rebecca Marcus, the Wilcoxes, Political Solutions, and Brian Malte began to develop a larger, national strategy. They knew the governor
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