California’s ban on the sale of fur is now official, effective January 1, 2023. Whew. Thank goodness we no longer have to be concerned with barbarians who wear fur.
Rather, that is what California’s politicians on the left want you to think.
The first duty of the government is to protect its citizens. Former President Ronald Reagan understood this and had another take on it: “Government’s first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.”
Assemblywoman Laura Friedman (D-Glendale) authoredAB 44in 2019, to prohibit the sale and manufacture of new fur in California. “Today there are a variety of humane alternatives, both in terms of faux fur that is virtually indistinguishable from real fur, and alternative textiles that are just as warm or fashionable,” Friedman said. “There is no need for fur in the 21st century and no place for it in a sustainable future.”
“There’s no reason for this bill other than one class of society telling another class of society what they can and cannot wear,” Sen. Brian Jones (R-Santee) said.
Gov. Newsom signed AB 44into law. Assemblywoman Friedmansaidher motivation is for California to lead the nation in statewide fur bans… from her Glendale home, in sunny Southern California.
While California will now have the distinction of being the first state in the country to ban the sale and manufacture of new fur products, Gov. Newsom also signed a law to allow drivers who fatally strike a deer, elk, antelope or wild pig to take the animal home and cook it. ????
California’s obsession with misguided animal “protections” has been devastating for business owners, farmers and ranchers.
Assemblywoman Friedman also said fur is a “fashion statement and statement of wealth. There is no need for warmth,” from fur, she added, mentioning the many faux fur products available.
As the Globe pointed out, California has many diverse climates within its 164,000 square miles. San Diego to Siskiyou, Death Valley to Bodie State Park (near Bridgeport, Mono County), temperatures range from 110 degrees to -5 degrees, where people wear fur for warmth.
The fur trade ranks as one of America’s oldest, continuously operating industries, with more than 400 years of history.The fur industry in the United States comprises more than 1,000 fur retailers, 100 manufacturers, more than 200 small family farmers, and tens of thousands of trappers, all of whose businesses, jobs and livelihoods depend on the industry.Retail fur sales in California alone exceeded $300 million, and iswas an important source of employment and tax revenues to the State.
Nationally, furs account foraround$531 millionin sales—25 percent to 30 percent of that in California.
The fur ban is part of a “radical vegan agenda using fur as the first step to other bans on what we wear and eat,” Keith Kaplan of the Fur Information Council saidin a California Globe article.
Notably, Assemblywoman Friedman neglected to address the fact that faux fur is a petroleum product, made of plastic synthetic polymers, and are not biodegradable. I thought California Democrats are vehemently opposed petroleum products.
“Having tried for over 20 years unsuccessfully to win in the court of public opinion the very narrow minority who support the Vegan agenda now look to lawmakers to force this agenda on the public,” Keith Kaplan of the Fur Information Council told the Globe. “It is happening for fur, leather, meat and medical research. Merely giving in to the campaigns of deception, the harassment, intimidations and illegal activities of these animal extremists does not show leadership. Lawmakers must stand up and identify means of addressing animal welfare in meaningful ways while still protecting individual consumer freedom. That is true leadership.”
Could leather be next up on Democrats’ long list of items to ban? Animal meat?
Notably, in 2020, the International Fur Federation, based in London, announced a lawsuit to prevent San Francisco from implementing a 2018 city ordinance banning the sale of “cruel fur products.” However, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissedthe lawsuit.
The San Francisco ordinance gave existing department stores until Jan. 1, 2020, to sell off their remaining fur stock and prohibits the sale of newly manufactured fur coats, hats, gloves, lined parkas (such as Canada Goose jackets), and other products.
