California has “universal” background checks, an “assault weapons” ban, a 10-day waiting period on gun purchases, gun registration requirements, gun confiscation laws, a “good cause” requirement for concealed-carry permit issuance, a ban on campus carry and myriad other gun controls. Yet at this very moment, the state’s Democrat politicians are focused on piling even more gun control on the backs of law-abiding citizens.
One of the most egregious controls currently under consideration is Democrat Assemblyman Kevin McCarty’s AB 424. That measure would guarantee that law-abiding teachers cannot shoot back if under attack.
If AB 424 passes and is signed by Democrat Gov. Jerry Brown, it will do nothing to prevent criminal or terrorist attacks on K-12 schools.California has nearly 1,000 school districts. State Democrats previously secured a law prohibiting teachers from being armed for self-defense except in districts where the superintendent grants permission for teachers with concealed-carry permits to carry at K-12 schools. The result? Five districts allow teachers and/or teachers and staff to be armed for self-defense, as long as those teachers and/or staff have a concealed-carry permit.
Have there been crimes committed by armed teachers? No.
Have there been crimes committed by armed staff members? No.
Yet McCarty wants to remove the exemption that gives superintendents the authority to allow teachers to be armed for self-defense in the event of an attack on the school. His bill has already passed the state Assembly and is ready for a vote on the Senate floor.
If AB 424 passes and is signed by Democrat Gov. Jerry Brown, it will do nothing to prevent criminal or terrorist attacks on K-12 schools. But it will ensure that the attackers are met by law-abiding teachers who can do little more than throw books or chalk erasers in defense of their children.
Another anti-gun measure currently awaiting a Senate floor vote is Democrat Assemblyman Mike Gipson’s bill to further regulate open carry. In effect, Gipson is expanding the ban on open carry to include unincorporated areas among those where open carry is prohibited.
Gipson’s office released a statement when the measure was introduced:
Marking the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this afternoon, Assembly member Mike A. Gipson (D-Carson) introduced Assembly Bill 7, which will close a loophole in firearms law. This piece of legislation is the beginning of a series of bills aimed to close loopholes in gun safety legislation in order to fight the NRA and keep communities across California safe. Current law bans the open carry of rifles in incorporated areas, but does not include unincorporated areas of the state, like East Los Angeles and parts of Compton and Carson that have tens of thousands of residents. This bill will prohibit the open carry of weapons like rifles and shotguns in unincorporated areas and will instead require counties to designate specific areas where this practice is lawful.
(Notice how any unregulated aspect of Second Amendment rights is called a “loophole” when anti-gun politicians speak.)
[Hill’s] bill would add burdensome storage requirements to the plethora of other requirements such dealers already face.While McCarty and Gipson push their new controls, Democrat Sen. Jerry Hill has a piece of legislation that will place even more gun controls on the backs licensed gun dealers. His bill would add burdensome storage requirements to the plethora of other requirements such dealers already face.
For example, in addition to requiring that a licensed firearm dealer’s inventory be stored in a secured facility, Hill’s bill says:
The bill would require the firearms to also be secured using one of several methods, including the method involving a steel rod or cable or the method involving a safe or vault, as described above. The bill would require, if the rod or cable method is used and if the licensed location is at street level, that the licensee install, or cause to be installed, concrete or hardened steel bollards meeting certain specifications, or other specified barriers, to protect the location’s front entrance, any floor-to-ceiling windows, and any other doors, from breach by a vehicle, as specified. If a safe or vault method is used, the bill would require the safe to meet specified safety standards established by the attorney general relating to risk reduction of firearm-related injuries to children 17 years of age and younger. The bill would also authorize the dealer to secure the firearms by storing them in a shatter-proof or other specified display case, or in a windowless room without a door accessing the outside of the building, or by use of a steel roll-down door or security gate, or in a locked steel gun rack. The bill would also require the dealer to install steel roll-down doors on perimeter doors and floor-to-ceiling windows if the other securing methods described above are not used.
Realistically, Hill’s bill would mean mom-and-pop gun dealers would be forced to close their doors if they could not afford the wide array of new storage requirements. And this is a perfect illustration of what gun control really does—it punishes the law-abiding citizen rather than the criminal.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins, or reach him directly at [email protected].
