Americans are suffering at the hands of our two major political parties. In their current configurations, we can reasonably refer to these parties as the Evil party and the Stupid party. In California the Evil party has achieved one-party rule and is not like to lose that status anytime soon as the Stupid party has no plan to regain power.
The Evil party has an unquenchable thirst for power and control which manifests itself as a relentless attack on individual rights and liberty. In the view of the Evil party, the Constitution is nothing more than an antiquated document written by ignorant men which is to be ignored at every opportunity and should eventually be abolished.
In California, Governor Evil currently has 15 bills on his desk from the overwhelmingly Evil California legislature. The bills ignore the Second Amendment and further restrict the rights of Americans unfortunate enough to live in California. The bills do not impede criminals or increase public safety in any way. The bills make everyone less safe and suck a little more of the joy out of living in what once was the Golden State.
The following is a quick summary of the bills with links to the actual legislation. The bills to me have the feel of a tantrum thrown by a frustrated child but, as always, I encourage you to not take my word but follow the links and form your own opinions.
Senate Bill 2 – This bill is intended to discourage law-abiding citizens from exercising their legal right to carry concealed firearms for personal protection, a right affirmed by the US Supreme Court last year. Some things included in this bill:
- Required training is increased from 8 to16 hours (which will double the current cost)
- Require issuing authority to submit fingerprint information to the state for renewals (fingerprint information is already on file and this would just increase processing time and cost)
- SB2 would allow the licensing agency to charge additional fees at their discretion
- SB2 would prohibit carry on all airport property or passenger vessel terminals
- SB2 would revise the exception of CCW holders to carry in areas adjacent to school property
- SB2 would prohibit carry in a place of worship with specific exceptions
- SB2 would prohibit carry on in any public transit system
Senate Bill 241 – Mandates licensed firearms dealers and their employees complete an annual training program the Department of Justice is to create. This is intended to make it more difficult for legal firearms dealers to conduct business and serves no other purpose.
Senate Bill 368 – Requires legal firearms dealers to provide a firearms storage service, prohibits firearms raffles, and expands prohibited persons categories. The intended purpose is the same as above
Senate Bill 377 – Removes exemptions to law enforcement of the ten-day waiting period and forces them to comply with the handgun roster like private citizens. It’s about time as we’re all in this together, right?
Senate Bill 452 – Sets forth a process for California DOJ to prohibit non-microstamped handguns from being sold in California if DOJ determines microstamping technology will be viable by 2028.
Assembly Bill 28 – Establishes an 11% tax on sale price of firearms, firearm precursor parts, and ammunition. The taxes will be placed in a “gun violence fund” to be used by the state legislature for purposes that I’m sure will benefit all Californians.
Assembly Bill 574 – Requires gun owners, when filling out the Dealer Record of Sale (DROS), to affirm that they have checked and confirmed possession within the past 30 days of every firearm they own or possess.
Assembly Bill 725 – Expands mandated reporting of lost or stolen firearms to also include precursor parts. Citizens could face criminal penalties for not reporting loss of pieces of metal or plastic.
Assembly Bill 732 – Increases requirements beyond federal law for individuals to relinquish their firearms upon conviction of a prohibiting offense.
Assembly Bill 733 – Prohibits state and local government entities from selling off surplus firearms, ammunition, and body armor.
Assembly Bill 1089 – Expands the ban on citizens making firearms for their own personal use, something hobbyists have done throughout history.
Assembly Bill 1420 – Expands the grounds for firearm dealer inspections and penalties for technical violations.
Assembly Bill 1483 – Expands the one-gun-per-month rule to include private party transfers.
Assembly Bill 1587 – Requires credit card issuers to use specified Merchant Category Codes to designate firearm and ammunition retailers. This is intended to impede law abiding citizens from using credit cards to make legal gun and ammunition purchases.
Assembly Bill 1598 – Requires licensed firearms dealers to provide a DOJ published pamphlet on the risks of gun ownership to customers. The pamphlets are likely to be mostly anti-gun propaganda.
Why do you suppose we are still fighting every day to preserve rights supposedly protected by the Constitution 250 years after the fact? Here’s something to ponder. There are probably over 150 million gun owners in America. The NRA is probably the biggest single reason our Second Amendment rights have not been completely obliterated yet the NRA has only 5 million members.
For an example a little closer to home look at San Diego County Gun Owners (SDCGO). SDCGO is the primary reason that San Diego County residents have regained their concealed carry rights after decades of having those rights denied. There are almost 15,000 (14,448 to be exact) CCW licenses now active in San Diego County yet SDCGO has about 3500 members most of whom are not concealed carriers.
If you were wondering why we have the problem the last two paragraphs pretty much say it all. Americans in general and gun-owners in particular have created the society in which we live. We elect the politicians (over and over again in the case of California) that do this. We tolerate the misinformation and propaganda promoted by the mainstream media. We fail to object to laws that have no positive impact on crime or public safety but only further restrict our rights and make us less safe. We allow ourselves to be demonized by ignorant, morally corrupt politicians and media figures while the average gun-owner offers no response.
In America we are free to choose, at least we are at the moment. As I’ve pointed out many times before, Americans in general and gun-owners in particular get what we ask for. In what sort of country do you wish to live?
©2023 Joseph T Drammissi
This article and more of Joe’s work covering the Second Amendment and other topics can be found on Substack at https://getagrip.substack.com
This article was originally posted on from San Diego County Gun Owners
