We—and a gun chunk of the Internet, it seems—had a great deal of fun watching California state senator Kevin De León rant nonsensically about “sniper automatic weapons,” “gun engines,” and “barrel protectors” in a videotaped press conference where he railed for laws against the sale and ownership of 80-percent lower receivers. De León wants all firearms registered in California, presumably for easier confiscation at some point in the future.

After that story was posted, a reader sent along a link to a story in CalWatchDog.com  reminding us about a law De León tried to pass last session:

A state lawmaker who has co-authored legislation to track ammunition sales believes law enforcement officials need more information to “profile” sales to anyone who isn’t a white male over the age of 50.

During a July 2 committee hearing, state Senator Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, urged his colleagues on the Senate Public Safety Committee to support Assembly Bill 48, which would track large ammunition sales in California. The bill would require the state Department of Justice to alert local law enforcement agencies of any ammunition sales exceeding 3,000 rounds within a 5-day period.

De Leon, a co-author of the bill, says the legislation is needed to highlight purchases by those who “don’t fit a certain profile,” a word he said they chose “carefully.” In explanation of the bill, he said:

“What it does is in a place like Richmond, what does like in a place like Oakland or Los Angeles, if there are individuals purchasing large quantities, and perhaps, they don’t fit a certain profile. Now, I will use the word profile, cause I’m using my words very carefully.”

De Leon goes on to describe his profile of the typical purchaser of large quantities of ammunition in Los Angeles, including a description of the buyer’s race, age and gender.

“In Los Angeles, a profile of an individual who purchases large quantities, according to a Rand Institute study, is a white male over the age of 50. That is the profile.”

De León seemed to be suggesting that if you aren’t a “white male over 50,” then your interest in shooting is likely criminal and you should be assumed to be a criminal until proven otherwise.

That’s a stunning commentary both on his views of his own constituents and his disdain for due process. I can only imagine what sort of warped thinking his displays off camera and off the record in unguarded moments if these are the sorts of thoughts he thinks are acceptable for public consumption.