Last August in downtown San Francisco, an armed gunman stalked San Francisco 49ers rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall and demanded his watch along with everything he carried. Pearsall refused to comply and in the ensuing struggle took a bullet in the chest.
The attack brought no public comment from Gov. Gavin Newsom, a former mayor of San Francisco, and state Attorney General Rob Bonta. Also holding off was Assemblyman Rick Zbur, Los Angeles Democrat and Harvard law alum. Zbur’s new bill makes a case that Pearsall should have handed over his valuables, run away, or both.
According to Zbur’s Assembly Bill 1333, the use of deadly force by an innocent party—“homicide” in the bill’s text—is not justified:
When the person was outside of their residence and knew that using force likely to cause death or great bodily injury could have been avoided with complete safety by retreating.
When the person used more force than was reasonably necessary to defend against a danger.
When the person was the assailant, engaged in mutual combat, or knowingly engaged in conduct reasonably likely to provoke a person to commit a felony or do some great bodily injury, except if either of the following circumstances apply:
The person reasonably believed that they were in imminent danger of death or great bodily injury, and had exhausted every reasonable means to escape such danger other than the use of force likely to cause death or great bodily injury.
In good faith, the person withdrew from the encounter with the other assailant or assailants and indicated clearly to the other assailant or assailants that the person desired to withdraw and terminated the use of any force, but the other assailant or assailants continued or resumed the use of force.
According to Zbur, his bill “was never intended to limit a crime victim’s right to defend yourself, your family, or home.” In an X post now unavailable, Zbur claimed, “the goal is to prevent wannabe vigilantes like Kyle Rittenhouse from provoking violence & claiming self defense after the fact.”
The assemblyman failed to note that Rittenhouse, 18, deployed deadly force while under attack and was acquitted of all charges. Zbur did not cite the looters who gunned down retired St. Louis policeman David Dorn or any of the many homicides during the 2020 riots in cities across the nation.
A politician concerned about public safety might also have cited James Hodgkinson, who in 2017 deployed an SKS rifle against members of Congress as they played baseball. The attack nearly killed Rep. Steve Scalise, who had no time to run away. Consider also wannabe assassin Thomas Mathew Crooks.
On July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania, the 20-year-old Crooks eluded the Secret Service detail and got off eight shots, wounding presidential candidate Donald Trump, killing rally attendee Corey Comperatore, and wounding James Copenhaver and David Dutch. None of the attendees had time to flee.
Californians can be forgiven for believing that AB-1333 benefits violent criminals while menacing the people’s right to self-defense. They might examine The Right to Bear Arms: A Constitutional Right of the People or a Privilege of the Ruling Class?by Stephen P. Halbrook, author of That Every Man Be Armed: Evolution of a Constitutional Right. And while debating AB-1333, know that a more dangerous bill is already state law.
In September 2018, Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 1391, which bars all prosecution of criminals under 16 in adult court. That means anyone under the age of 16 could murder Ricky Pearsall, be tried only in juvenile court, and gain release at age 25.
The 49er miraculously survived and played well in his first season. His attacker has been charged with attempted murder, assault with a semiautomatic weapon, and attempted second-degree robbery. At this writing, the 17-year-old has yet to be publicly identified.