So Who Wrote SB 264 to Ban Gun Shows at OC Fairgrounds? WAVE Insider Answers the Question

The ongoing battle for the hearts and minds of Democratic voters in CA-47 continues over the issue of SB 264, a billed introduced by State Senator Dave Min which banned gun shows at the Orange County Fairgrounds.

Min says he wrote the bill with contributions from a number of organizations in Orange County including NeverAgain CA, Brady So Cal, and WAVE, a women’s political group founded by Joanna Weiss.  And on the Campaign trail for Congress in CA-47, the Weiss campaign is making claims that WAVE actually wrote the Bill.  While Min does offer credit to the WAVE gun violence working group, and other organizations, he’s insistent that he wrote the Bill.

The Weiss campaign team is working sources on social media platforms to give Weiss more credit on this bill.  Briana Walker, who Tweets under the name “InMiniVanHell” and says she works for the Weiss campaign, claims Weiss “has the receipts” to take credit for crafting SB 264 and accused Min of “another man taking credit for women’s work.”

Walker tweeted: “Fighting between Dems doesn’t benefit the party, but I will not be quiet when women bust their asses for years only to have a man come in & take full credit for their work. @wave4all empowers women to make effective change in their community and they absolutely did.”

At the CA-47 candidate’s forum in late July, the Weiss camp’s subtle (or not so subtle) pitch was that Min is unelectable because of his May DUI.  That message doesn’t seem to be resonating with many voters, and Min has lost only one endorsement due to the May incident.   Weiss’s turn at the microphone has been described by some as how she and WAVE were responsible for Min’s bill.  One attendee writes: “Basically, she was saying, ‘I did this’ and he just rubber stamped the bill after I did all the hard work.”

“I was present at the D47 Congressional Candidate Forum in July,” said Irvine’s Jeremy Ficarola. “On discussion of guns, Weiss discussed her leadership role with WAVE and described how WAVE led the way on gun safety and how they successfully got someone elected who would be receptive to their gun advocacy goals. Based on Weiss’s statements, I got the impression that she was the decisionmaker at WAVE and WAVE was the leading group tackling gun safety issues. I also got the impression that Weiss believed Min was fortunate enough to earn WAVE’s support and merely rubber-stamped legislation pushed by WAVE on guns. Overall, Weiss seemed to be taking credit for Min’s bill on guns.”

And the “Weiss wrote SB 264” has gained traction.  A Facebook post had this: “Joanna Weiss has been doing the work without pay and without glory. She mounted a massive campaign to stop gun shows at the Orange County Fairgrounds 1.5 years before her opponent got involved.”

If only that was true.

Susan Lew, a WAVE board member, responded, “with all due respect, my friend, I have firsthand knowledge of the county-wide effort to end gun shows at the OC fairgrounds, and 1) it was not a massive campaign; it was a small group of very dedicated and persistent people from MULTIPLE organizations and agencies; 2) Joanna Weiss did not spearhead it; 3) our efforts were going nowhere until Senator Dave Min introduced SB 264, which, contrary to some Weiss campaign claims, was not originated, authored or sponsored by WAVE.  WAVE members supported SB 264 in the way that any citizen or advocacy group can support – we sent a letter of support (which I wrote and was a signatory on), and a few of us made public comment in committee hearings.”

So, who is Susan Lew?

Here’s her bio:  Susan Lew, MS, is a public health professional, health and science writer, musician, community activist, and advocate. Her writing has appeared in Brown Medicine Magazine, the Journal of Risk Research, and the publications of for-profit and non-profit healthcare organizations. Susan has a BA from Brown University and a MS from Harvard School of Public Health, where she specialized in social determinants of health, behavior change, and health communication. In addition to her work in public health, Susan has served on the board of Pacific Symphony Youth Ensembles and has been a proud member/singer of Pacific Chorale since 2010. Susan currently serves as Board Co-Chair of National Asian American Community Foundation, Board Member of the Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties Community Action Fund, Co-chair of the WAVE Gun Safety Working Action Group, and member of the WAVE Communications Committee. She participated on the planning committees and served as a volunteer lead for the Orange County Women’s March in 2018, 2019, and 2020.

The basic claim from surrogates on the Weiss campaign was that Weiss “wrote the bill” and sent to Min.  Min claims he was writing the bill and got feedback from WAVE, March for Our Lives OC and the Brady Orange County Chapter.  Lew’s first-hand experience dismisses the stance of the Weiss campaign and endorses Min’s contention.

Min has crafted a number of bills, but none of them were written for him by what amounts to a lobbying group.  If Weiss was elected to Congress, would she submit a bill that was written for her by WAVE?  Or by any other lobbying group?

I’m reminded again of words and advice offered by the late Mary Ann Gaido of Irvine.  “It’s amazing what can get done when you don’t care who gets the credit.”  And for those social media mavens out there, a sign that was in the OC Register’s newsroom would serve you well: “If your mother says she loves you, check it out.”