California adds to the ever-growing list of prohibiting misdemeanors.

via Guns.com

Lawmakers this week unanimously approved a bill to strip gun rights from those convicted of misdemeanor hate crimes.

The measure, AB 785, passed the California Legislature without a single “no” vote and is backed by Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, who argues the proposal heading to Gov. Brown’s desk is timely considering recent events.

“There are too many examples in our country’s recent history, which show what a firearm can do in the hands of people who practice hate,” said Jones-Sawyer in a statement. “The recent incident in Charlottesville, where heavily armed Neo-Nazis, Klansmen and white supremacists, spewing hatred and inciting violence under the guise of protecting free speech and the right to bear arms, is not what the founding fathers of this great nation were protecting when they drafted our constitution.”

His bill, the Disarm Hate Act, adds to the state’s already existing list of misdemeanor crimes that result in an automatic 10-year prohibition on possessing a firearm. The additions would include those who are convicted of misdemeanor interference with another person’s civil rights or damage of property because of their perceived race, religion, national origin, disability, gender, or sexual orientation. Violations would be a felony and result in a lifetime gun ban.

 Read more here.