Bill would renew Calif. ban on felons owning body armor after court overturned earlier law
By APThursday, January 28, 2010
Bill renews Calif. ban on felons owning body armor
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Violent felons in California would be prohibited from owning bulletproof vests and other body armor under a bill approved unanimously by the state Senate.
The bill, passed Thursday, would reinstate a ban imposed a decade ago after a pair of notorious shootouts between police and suspects wearing bulletproof clothing.
In 1997, two bank robbers in North Hollywood held off 350 police officers. Three years earlier in San Francisco, an armor-wearing carjacker killed a police officer during a lengthy shootout before he was shot by a police sniper.
A state appeals court threw out the ban in December, ruling that the definition of body armor was too vague.
The bill gives a more specific definition and renews the ban. It passed 35-0 and now goes to the Assembly.
