California circles the drain

The Governator signed the retarded microstamping bill, and in somewhat of a surprise move, signed the ban on lead ammo in the California Condor’s sprawling “habitat range”.  Sebastian has some pretty strong words for Ah-nuld, and I have to say that I agree.  What kills me about this bill is that the article in the San Diego paper promoting in even acknowledges that it’s full of holes.  Just to name a few, revolvers are not mentioned anywhere in the language of the bill, and any semi-auto manufactured before 2010 isn’t covered by the bill either.

The law doesn’t really go into effect until Jan. 1st, 2010 – that gives us a little more than 2 years to have this stupid law overturned.  Barring that, I hope that firearms manufacturers will follow the lead of Ronnie Barret, and refuse to service or do business with the State of California.

In other California news, I hear from the NRA-ILA that the City of Long Beach is designing an ordinance that amounts to an ammunition registration program.  I don’t have a copy of the language of the ordinance yet, but coming from California, and Orange County, I can rest assured that it will be three things: Onerous, unrealistic, and expensive.

The City of Long Beach is in the preliminary stages of crafting an ordinance requiring ammunition sales to be logged by all Federal Firearm Licensees (FFL’s) and electronically sent to law enforcement.  Under this possible ordinance, it is likely that purchasers will be forced to present identification and submit to fingerprinting simply to purchase a box of ammunition to hunt or go to the range.  It has been transferred to the Public Safety Advisory Committee and the Public Safety Committee.  Thus far the Public Safety Advisory Commission has withheld judgment on the issue at two consecutive meetings and the Public Safety Committee is waiting for input and recommendation from the Public Safety Advisory Committee.

Even if you don’t live in Long Beach, it’s worth contacting the people listed on the NRA-ILA alerts page – if you do, be courteous and well spoke, and don’t forget that the Firearms Owner’s Protection Act overturned a federal law that mandated ammo purchasers present an ID.  Why did it overturn that law?  Because the ID-for-ammo law was deemed ineffective at fighting crime.

Just from reading the NRA’s summary of the proposed Long Beach ordinance, it’s the kind of law that doesn’t take much tweaking to turn into de facto gun registration.  Think about it; you go buy a box of ammo, and your information is sent straight to Long Beach PD, or Orange County Sheriff’s Office for them to store in a database that you and I will probably never see.

Additionally, there are economic reasons behind this.  Most gun owners won’t want to submit to fingerprinting, etc just to buy a box of ammo, which means they’ll just take their business outside of Long Beach.  That’s bad for Long Beach gun and outdoor stores, because they’re going to lose business if this law passes.

California seems to be deeply committed to running itself into some kind of authoritarian socialist paradise, complete with crime and secret government databases.  Makes me glad I moved away all those years ago.

4 Comments

  1. I’d be worried that they might start limiting the amount of ammo a person can own.

  2. I was born there, but I escaped to a free country, America. How long we can keep it, though, is worrisome.

  3. With the DROS system, we already have registration for handguns (since 1990). This might identify people who bought their guns before 1990 or moved into the state with guns never transferred in CA. I can’t see how that is a benefit to anyone.

    Lots of microstamping commentary at calguns.net and thehighroad.org.

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