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Kevin de León
de Léon in 2012
Member of the California Senate from the 22nd district
Incumbent
Assumed office December 6, 2010
Preceded by	Gil Cedillo
Member of the California State Assembly from the 45th district
In office December 4, 2006 – December 6, 2010
Preceded by	Jackie Goldberg
Succeeded by	Gil Cedillo
Personal details
Born	San Diego, California
Political party	Democratic
Children	Lluvia
Residence(s)	Los Angeles, California
Alma mater	Pitzer College University of California, Santa Barbara
Occupation	Senior Associate, National Education Association
Website	http://www.kevindeleon.com/

Kevin de León is a Democratic member of the California State Senate, elected to serve Los Angeles County's 22nd Senatorial district in November 2010. The district includes Downtown Los Angeles, East Hollywood, Echo Park, Elysian Valley, Mt. Washington, Lincoln Heights, South Los Angeles, the Cities of Alhambra, South Pasadena, San Marino, Vernon and Maywood, and unincorporated portions of Los Angeles County.

Political career

De León served four years as a State Assembly member for the 45th district that included Hollywood, Thai Town, Little Armenia, Historic Filipiniotown, Echo Park, Chinatown, El Sereno, Silverlake, Atwater Village, Mount Washington, Montecito Heights, Highland Park, Glassell Park and East Los Angeles.

Kevin de León has been linked to an ongoing scandal of illegal payments/bribes, and federal investigation of his fellow CA Senator Ronald S. Calderon. Kevin de León denied involvement in the scandal, in December 2013. As of July, 2014, de León has not been charged with any wrongdoing in relation to the Calderon case. A letter was released by the assistant U.S. attorney in charge of the case reporting that de León, "is a witness, not a target in the federal investigation." California’s political watchdog chose not to investigate de León saying that there was no substantial evidence he played a role in the scandal.

In Feburuary of 2014, the media has reported that Senator DeLeon is included in the list of 37 California state politicians warned by the FPPC after their campaigns were benefited by California lobbyist Kevin Sloat. Sloat was found guilty of violating state laws in regard to lobbying and was subsequently ordered to pay $133,500 in fines for his actions.

Career

De León taught English as a Second Language and U.S. Citizenship. During his five years at the California Teachers Association, De León worked to procure more funding for "high-priority schools" in low-income neighborhoods, more school construction, and health insurance for children. He also worked as a Senior Associate for the National Education Association in Washington, D.C.

Personal life

De León attended the University of California, Santa Barbara and received his degree from Pitzer College at the Claremont Colleges with Honors. He lives in Los Angeles and has one daughter.

Gun control

De León is an advocate of gun control. He proposed an annual permit tax of up to $50 to pay for background checks for criminal records and mental illness. In February 2008, as an assemblyman, De Léon introduced AB 2062 regulating sales of handgun ammunition; the bill passed the Assembly but died in the Senate. In December 2012, De León introduced Bill SB 53 in the California Legislature, in which he proposed stricter gun control by requiring ammunition buyer permit requirement and face-to-face ammo sales only at licensed dealers. De Leon has also criticized NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre.

DeLeon was the sponsor and author of California Assembly Bill 962 (AB 962) a gun control law in California, later signed into law by Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger on October 11, 2009. AB 962 was set to take effect on February 1, 2011, but was ruled unconstitutional by Fresno Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Hamilton on January 18, 2011, in Parker v. California.

DeLeon drew the ire of gun rights advocates following a January, 2014 press conference, in which he incorrectly used various pieces of weapon terminology interchangeably. He did so in a way that both contradicted the actual functions of those items, and incorrectly claimed that a semiautomatic firearm was capable of firing as many as thirty rounds in one half of one second, which is a higher rate of fire than the MG 42 heavy machine gun and similar to that of the airplane-mounted GAU-12 Equalizer:

This is a ghost gun. This right here has ability, with a thirty caliber clip, to disperse thirty bullets within half a second. Thirty magazine clip... in half a second.

On August 15, 2013, Senate Bill 53 was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee and put on the suspense file. This indicates that the bill is suspended from further committee action

See also

• California Assembly Bill 962 (2009)

References

1. McGreevy, Patrick (December 16, 2013). "Sen. Kevin De Leon denies role in contribution to Calderon group". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 21, 2014.
2. Patrick, McGreevy. "Setback put Kevin de León on the path to Senate leadership". http://www.latimes.com. Eddy Hartenstein. Retrieved 4 July 2014. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
3. Rosenhall, Laurel. "Kevin de León aims to move past Calderon scandal to lead Senate Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/01/05/6046614/kevin-de-leon-aims-to-move-past.html#storylink=cpy". http://www.sacbee.com. Cheryl Dell. Retrieved 4 July 2014. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= and |website= (help)
4. http://www.sacbee.com/2014/02/11/6146072/record-setting-fine-hits-sacramento.html
5. Sen. Kevin De Leon leads gun control campaign in California
6. "State Assembly Narrowly Approves Legislation to Require Handgun Ammunition Dealers to be Licensed". YubaNet.com. May 30, 2008. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
7. California State Legislature
8. State Sen. Kevin de Leon talks gun control and the NRA
9. http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/asm/ab_0951-1000/ab_962_bill_20091011_chaptered.html
10. http://www.crpa.org/_e/page/1597/mr01_18_2011.htm
11. Video on YouTube

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml

External links

• Official government website
• Campaign website

v t e Members of the California State Senate
2025–26 Session President of the Senate Eleni Kounalakis (D) President pro tempore Mike McGuire (D) Majority Leader Lena Gonzalez (D) Minority Leader Brian Jones (R)
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• Living people
• California Democrats
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• Politicians from San Diego, California
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• Pitzer College alumni
• University of California, Santa Barbara alumni