Mulford Act
| Mulford Act | |
|---|---|
| California | |
| |
| Passed by | California State Assembly |
| Passed | June 8, 1967 |
| Passed by | California State Senate |
| Passed | July 27, 1967 |
| Signed by | Ronald Reagan |
| Signed | July 28, 1967 |
| Effective | July 28, 1967 |
| Legislative history | |
| First chamber: California State Assembly | |
| Bill title | Firearms law |
| Introduced by | Don Mulford |
| Co-sponsored by | John T. Knox, Walter J. Karabian, Frank Murphy Jr., Alan Sieroty, William M. Ketchum |
| Introduced | April 5, 1967 |
| First reading | April 5, 1967 |
| Second reading | June 6, 1967 to June 7, 1967 |
| Third reading | June 8, 1967 |
| Second chamber: California State Senate | |
| Bill title | Firearms law |
| First reading | June 8, 1967 |
| Second reading | June 27, 1967 |
| Third reading | July 26, 1967 |
The Mulford Act was a 1967 California bill that prohibited public carrying of loaded firearms without a permit. Named after Republican assemblyman Don Mulford and signed into law by governor of California Ronald Reagan, the bill was crafted with the goal of disarming members of the Black Panther Party, which was conducting armed patrols of Oakland neighborhoods in what would later be termed copwatching. They garnered national attention after Black Panthers members, bearing arms, marched upon the California State Capitol to protest the bill.
Assembly Bill 1591 was introduced by Don Mulford (R) from Oakland on April 5, 1967, and subsequently co-sponsored by John T. Knox (D) from Richmond, Walter J. Karabian (D) from Monterey Park, Frank Murphy Jr. (R) from Santa Cruz, Alan Sieroty (D) from Los Angeles, and William M. Ketchum (R) from Bakersfield. A.B 1591 was made an "urgency statute" under Article IV, §8(d) of the Constitution of California after "an organized band of men armed with loaded firearms [...] entered the Capitol" on May 2, 1967; as such, it required a two-thirds majority in each house. On June 8, after the third reading in the Assembly (controlled by Democrats, 42:38), the urgency clause was adopted, and the bill was then passed 70 to 5. It passed the Senate (split, 20:19) on July 26, 29 votes to 7, and was passed back to the assembly on July 27, 1967 for a final vote, where it passed 62 to 9. The bill was signed by Governor Ronald Reagan on July 28, 1967.
Both Republicans and Democrats in California supported increased gun control, as did the National Rifle Association of America. Governor Ronald Reagan, who was coincidentally present on the Capitol lawn when the protesters arrived, 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."
The bill was signed by Reagan and became California penal code nr.25850 and nr.171c.