LA Time editorial board upset with CA Dems over gun control

California is the place where many horrible gun control ideas come from. If they don’t originate there, though, they typically find a welcome home in the Golden State easily enough. Democrats–who make up the lion’s share of the legislature–are big fans of anything to restrict the right to keep and bear arms.

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Following Bruen, though, there’s a bit of an issue. Some of the old gun control laws went out the window and so the state “needed” to pass new ones. It didn’t happen.

Now, the LA Time is less than pleased:

As the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority unleashes its extreme gun rights agenda on the nation, we had hoped we could count on California’s Democratic-controlled Legislature to stand as a bulwark protecting public safety in the Golden State.

Those hopes were dashed this week when lawmakers rejected a critical gun safety bill. Arrogance, ineptitude and divisions among Democratic members allowed the pro-gun ideology to win, leaving Californians vulnerable to having more armed people in our communities and creating the potential for more violence.

In the final moments of the legislative session that ended Wednesday night, moderate Democrats in the Assembly joined with Republicans to kill a bill to update the state’s rules for issuing concealed weapons permits to comport with the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn. vs. Bruen.

This should not have happened in a Legislature where Democrats hold 75% of the seats — and can pass bills that require supermajority support and still have votes to spare. Democrats passed several other gun safety laws this year, so this defeat reveals a stunning lack of leadership in managing an important piece of legislation.

Now, the editorial board is right, there’s little chance this should have failed. However, it did, and while the LA Times is upset, I see this as a golden opportunity.

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You see, the measure that was under consideration was similar to the law New York passed to try and skirt around Bruen. New York passed their version, using a legislative trick to avoid much of the debate needed and to put the new law into effect as quickly as possible.

California tried it and failed.

As a result, we’ll have two notoriously anti-gun states who considered the exact same law, but only one of which passed it.

It should be interesting to see how the violent crime rates in each state respond to this situation. While I figure we’ll see violent crime drop across the board–2020 and 2021 were strange years, after all–I believe we’ll see California’s drop more than New York’s. After all, more good guys with guns typically translate to lower violent crime rates.

So while the LA Times is blasting Democrats for failing to pass the new concealed carry law, I’m thrilled to see the state fail to enact yet another gun control measure. Now, maybe people in California can actually exercise their right to keep and bear arms rather than being subjected to, well, being treated like a subject.

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