California Gun Laws Causing Frustration

AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File

No one expects the state of California to do anything that might benefit gun owners. If any state can be said to be hostile to the Second Amendment, it’s the Golden State.

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I mean, they called for a constitutional convention just to push gun control, for crying out loud.

But their own gun control laws are a big enough problem for those who live there. A number of gun rights activists are expressing frustration over those laws.

Action News Now spoke with Barry Deditch, a recruiter with the California Rifle Association, who said he is frustrated with the new laws.

“To buy ammunition you now have to do a background check for that at one time you could come to a gun show buy ammunition and walk out the door,” Deditch said. “Now if you purchased a gun in the last five years it is a $1, if you haven’t its $19 then there’s tax. It’s the same with guns.”

Advocates of gun carrying, like Deditch , believe the new laws are unconstitutional and infringing on their second amendment rights.

“The laws are made for law-abiding people, the ones who don’t care about gun laws are still going to get guns no matter what, even though its harder on us the criminal will always get a gun from some place,” Deditch said.

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Deditch is absolutely correct.

Plus, it’s pretty clear California didn’t think through the unintended consequences of some of these laws.

While the restrictions on ammo aren’t particularly new, let’s look at these fees for a moment.

If you bought a gun within the last five years, that $1 isn’t a huge thing, but not everyone has bought a gun that recently. Many bought one or two guns back in the day and just shoot those. They’re on the hook for a $19 fee for a background check.

Well, since California doesn’t have ammo rationing, it just makes sense to buy a lot of ammo when you get it. After all, another $19 isn’t as big of a deal when you’re buying a couple thousand rounds as when you’re just getting a box of defensive ammo.

That means a lot more ammo being bought at a time and available for theft by criminals, thus undermining the stated purpose of the background checks in the first place.

Plus, since ammo isn’t serialized, straw purchases for ammo would be pretty easy.

Thus the frustration with California’s gun laws.

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The latest law bans the carry of firearms in “sensitive places.” In this regard, California isn’t different than some other states. Yet the issue is still the same. The law-abiding will abide by the law. The criminals, on the other hand, will keep carrying guns in these places unless physical security is present. Since parks are considered sensitive places in California, though, there aren’t likely to be metal detectors at all such places.

That’s the issue with gun control and there’s no way officials there are oblivious to this fact. We know the governor of New Mexico wasn’t, so it’s not a stretch to figure California officials know as well.

So the frustration is real and justified. Let’s just hope we can figure out a way to put an end to it.

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