California Approves Semi-Automatic Rifle Rationing Bill

The state of California is desperate to do something. It doesn’t mean there’s a problem it’s trying to solve, but it’s bound and determined to pass still more gun control despite the fact that data suggests absolutely none of it works. Still, California lawmakers have it in their heads that still more gun control is the answer to all of their problems.

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With that in mind, their latest measure that won’t do anything but get in the way of law-abiding gun owners is to ration the purchase of so-called “assault weapons.”

One of the broadest gun control measures signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom this year will prevent Californians from buying more than one semi-automatic rifle per month, and raise the minimum age to purchase a high-powered rifle to 21.

The law, Senate Bill 61, builds on a previous restriction that prohibits Californians from buying more than one handgun within 30 days.

The limitation on buying semi-automatic rifles to once per month takes effect on July 1, 2021. The part of the law that raises the minimum age to 21 for semi-automatic rifle purchases takes effect Jan. 1.

Christopher Lapinski, the manager of Last Stand Readiness & Tactical in Sacramento, said the new law probably won’t affect his business much.

“Typically people don’t buy more than one rifle at once,” Lapinski said. “So it’s more like death by a thousand cuts, it’s less that this will do anything specifically to hinder sales.”

He and other firearm owners questioned whether the gun control measure could prevent a mass shooting.

“This doesn’t really help anything. It’s kind of just a law to have a law, just to be there. I don’t see a point in it, and overall, this is just giving government a little bit more leeway for restriction. I’m not saying it’s a worse restriction, I just think it’s pointless,” said Sacramento State student Niko Guevara, 21, who has been shooting for a hobby for nearly 11 years.

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Honestly, Lapinski is right. The one group that will be impacted, however, are new shooters who are looking to buy guns to equip their entire family. Those in that situation, if they can afford it, are the ones most likely to buy multiple rifles at a time. Those are the ones who are going to be tripped up by this kind of measure.

The claims about mass shooters are beyond stupid. After all, most mass shooters only have one rifle anyway, so how is rationing going to do a damn thing to deter a potential mass shooter? Yeah, the Las Vegas killer had a whole host of firearms, but he was the exception, not the rule.

The second part of the law removes an exemption to the state’s 21 to buy a long gun law for hunters. The lawmaker who wrote the law cited the Poway synagogue shooting as his justification, despite also acknowledging that the killer didn’t have a hunting permit; thus, the exception didn’t apply to him.

It’s just more evidence that gun control laws don’t work, but those failures will be used to justify still more gun control laws.

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