Ammo Taxes Fail - AB 187, AB 760

Great news to start the weekend: two ammunition tax bills failed to clear their committees before the deadline, and are therefore dead for this year. AB 1020, a bill that would require the DOJ to send out letters to people in the DROS process summarizing various gun laws also failed to report out of committee.  That bill was a waste of money, especially for handgun purchases.  What the heck is the purposed of the Handgun Safety Certificate if not to educate the owner on safe storage laws.

The Future: No Handguns For Sale In California

There may come a time when California gun shops may have only a dozen or so new handgun models for sale. Or, perhaps, none. Think that’s an exaggeration? California still has no less than 46 civilian disarmament bills floating around in the Sacramento legislature. It’s a slave state for sure.

That is the intent of the law.  Some bills mentioned in the article indicate that the gun-grabbers are beginning to work in earnest on getting rid of the rifles.  Hey, you hunters, who think "They'll never come after my bolt action rifle." had better starting thinking again.

Armed Teachers - Can It Work?

It sure seems to work in Utah.  

Wow! No blood in the classrooms, no teachers going postal, not accidents.  Nothing.

Also, when was the last time there was a mass school shooting in Utah?  This list says never, but I would think that the moral teachings of the Morman Church has more to do with it than the presence of armed teachers.

But is does prove that the mere presence of guns does not necessarily make kid less safe.

Update: 5/25/2013

The Texas legislature has passed and sent to the Governor a bill authorizing schools to arm and maintain teachers in the role of "armed marshals".  As with Utah, we will not see the results of a national experiment: armed teachers in schools vs. gun free zones in schools.

Will the mere presence of guns make schools "unsafe", as claimed by most teachers unions? Will armed teachers be effective in stopping active shooter incidents? Will anything significant change as a result?

Let's check back in a few years to see.

And The Lies Keep Rolling On

The San Diego Union-Tribue published this article about the avalanche of anti-gun bills that are moving through the legislature, which contained the following quote:

"In California, a centerpiece is Steinberg’s Senate Bill 374 that prohibits the sale, purchase, manufacturing or transfer of certain rifles with high-capacity clips.

“You can spray more bullets a lot faster, killing or hurting a lot more people,” Steinberg said."

The above, is the worst type of lie, telling a half-truth.  SB 374 redefines the definition of "assault weapon" to include any rimfire or centerfire rifle with the capacity to accept a detachable magazine.  Steinberg's statement implies that these are military pattern rifles, but SB 374 would sweep up many rifles that are used for hunting or target practice.  The Ruger 10/22 and the Remington 570, and many others would be assault weapons if this bill becomes law.

"Assault weapons" are prohibited for sale by dealers, may not be sold or transferred by people who possess them, and must be surrendered, destroyed, or sold out of state when the owner dies.

"Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, a San Diego Democrat, said gun owner fears are overblown.

“I don’t see a total ban on guns. The bills aren’t about that,” she said."

SB 374 is a ban in all but name.  If it is signed into law, an entire class of rifles will disappear from gun store shelves, and eventually disappear from the public.  The only thing that this bill does not do is authorize the police to go door to door searching for and seizing weapons

Between this bill, and existing Roster of Handguns Approved for Sale, California has banned the sale of thousands of weapons. How are these not gun bans?

Prediction:  if this bill passes, they will be back with further restrictions:

1. Ban the sale of semi-automatic rifles that have fixed magazines, like the M-1 Garand.

2. Ban the sale of bolt action rifles because they are "sniper rifles" capable of firing "armor piercing"  ammunition.

3. Extend the Roster to include semi-automatic pistols as unsafe because of their ability to spay-fire 10 rounds without reloading.

4. Extend the Roster to ban large bore revolvers because large calibers are "unsafe".

We are on the slippery slope on gun rights in this state, and the Progressives are greasing the hill.  Where will it stop?

Creeping Handgun Ban Now in Effect

Today, May 17, 2013, the California Department of Justice has certified that microstamping technology is now available from more than one manufacturer unencumbered by patents.  Because of this event, microstamping will now be a required "safety feature" for all new handguns seeking approval by the DOJ for inclusion on the Roster of Handguns Certified for Sale.

The bulletin announcing this change can be read here.

It remains to be seen how handgun manufacturers will respond, but if they do not comply with this requirement, and many do not comply with the existing requirements, the effect will be a creeping handgun ban in California, with the models available for sale dwindling as the manufacturers allow the existing models to go out of production.

The only way to get this reversed will be either litigation, or boycott by the manufacturers.

Let me be the first to urge all firearms manufacturers to refuse to sell to police departments in California until this intolerable act is repealed. 

Guns and Homicide - No Correlation

Part of the mythology of anti-gun activism is that fewer guns mean less violence.  But in at least one measure of violence, homicide, there seems to be no correlation between the number of guns per capita  and the number of homicides per capita.

This infographic reveals the fallacy of this claim.  The United States has the most guns per person, but is among the lowest homicide nations.  Many other countries have low gun ownership, but very high homicide rates, and some countries, notably the U.K. and Australia have low gun ownership and low homicide rates.

In short, there is no correlation between guns and homicide.

Los Angeles Considering An Unwise Magazine Ordinance

As reported in the Los Angeles Daily News, the Los Angeles city counsel is considering an ordinance that would authorize police officers to confiscate firearm magazines of greater than 10 round capacity.

Magazines greater than 10 round capacity are illegal to transfer, import, manufacture, and sell in California, but they are not illegal to possess if they were acquired before the effective date of the law.

Note that one cannot move into the state with larger than 10 round magazines, as that would be "importing".

California gun laws are, at this point in time, already pretty comprehensive, lacking only firearms purchase permits and firearms possession permits that some states require. But the "gun-grabbers" must be seen to be "doing something" about "gun violence", so they are considering a magazine confiscation law.

This idea has at least two problems. First, it would be an unconstitutional taking of property without either due process or compensation.  Second, it would be a violation of the California firearms preemption law, which precludes local laws more strict than state laws.  The preemption law has been used several times in the past to challenge local ordinances, especially in San Francisco. 

If adopted, this law is CERTAIN to wind up in court, and it would probably be overturned. But this incident does underline the threat of AB 180, a bill that would provide an exception to the state preemption law to the city of Oakland, California.  If that bill is granted, would Los Angeles be far behind in demanding a similar exception? And if granted, who can doubt that Los Angeles will go forward with a magazine confiscation ordinance, or even licensing and registration frameworks as intrusive as those found in Chicago and Washington, D.C.?  

I have no doubt that they would at least try, and California could be come the Illinois of the West Coast.

This is a sad day....

.... for Joan Peterson.  A good day for the people of Minnesota.  They're not going to get hosed like we will in California.