California Governor Jerry Brown has some of the most prohibitive gun laws in American history are sitting on his desk, and he’s given little indication of whether he will let them pass into law with his signature, without his signature, or if he will veto them.

What we do know is that if he does allow AB 711 (bans lead ammunition for hunting) and SB 374 (bans the majority of self-loading rifles) become law, there will be lawsuits filed challenging the constitutionality of these laws, and that Brown’s personal poll numbers would likely plummet.

Fair warning to Jerry Brown:  if he throws his weight behind this extreme gun control, there is no doubt in my mind he suffer the same fate as two other popular Democrat governors in similar blue states.

In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo’s approval ratings fell 15 points after he signed gun bills into law this year – laws which were, in fact, less strict than the ones just passed in California. Cuomo’s approval ratings drop was so fast and furious, the New York Post called it “faster than a speeding bullet.”

In Colorado, another Democrat Governor John Hickenlooper has seen his approval ratings plummet 16 points since the day he signed that state’s gun laws. Not only have they impacted the Governor’s popularity, but Colorado’s gun bills were the catalyst behind the State’s recent historic Recall elections which cost the Democrats two State Senate seats – including the all-powerful President of the State Senate.  Just this week, we witnessed two new Republicans taking the oath of office in a special off-session swearing-in ceremony. There is no greater real-world consequence than watching Democrats fall from a position of a power to a position of holding only a narrow 1-seat majority.

At 75 years old, I doubt Brown cares even a little about the potential loss of approval ratings, but suspect that he realizes that the lead ammo ban (AB 711) is a duplicitous attempt to ban all hunting in the state. He knows that such a ban is ultimately detrimental to both the game species themselves and the environment in general, as much of the funds from hunting licences are funneled into the state’s conservation programs.

SB 574, the “assault weapons ban” should be shot down by Brown, as it will ban million of common firearms while having little effect on reducing crime at all.

Will he veto either of these, or the other anti-gun bills on his desk?

One way or the other, we’ll know by October 13.