Capitol Weekly Shows Anti-Gun Bias in Reporting on Gun Legislation
Maybe someone should tell the staff at Capitol Weekly, “The Newspaper of California Government and Politics” to watch some old episodes of Dragnet and just tell “the facts, just the facts.” The paper reported on “A graveyard for key bills at the 11th hour” and shows some serious anti-gun bias. Read more
AP Reports on Failed Ban on Open-Carry, Sounds Disappointed
Someone at the Associated Press was probably hoping to write a piece on how California lawmakers passed a bill that would have made it illegal to carry unloaded guns in public, but instead the news service had to report that the measure failed.
AP noted:
“The Senate narrowly approved the measure… but it failed in the Assembly.”
Additionally, AP noted that lawmakers did not act on a second bill that would have made it a law requiring all long guns, including rifles and shotguns to be registered. AP also stated, “the bill fell short during an initial vote Monday.”
Is this a case of sour grapes from the AP? If so, too bad.
California Rejects Open-Carry Gun Ban… For Now
The gun owners of California have spoken, and it has been reported that this week the California Senate apparently listened, as it rejected a bill that would have made it illegal to carry unloaded guns in public. However, the vote on Monday fell one vote short of the majority (20-16) needed to ban the measure.
The irony is that the bill, AB1934, was actually introduced following a series of gun-rights demonstrations in support of the open-carry law. If passed, and it does appear that the legislation could try again today, it would make it a misdemeanor to openly carry a handgun in any public place.
San Francisco Chronicle Columnist Defends Gun Shop
In a column for The San Francisco Chronicle, Phil Bronstein compares Bosnia to the Golden Gate town, and notes that the San Francisco’s anti-gun zealots are fighting mad about the reopening of the High Bridge Arms gun shop on Mission Street.
He asks:
“Do we really need to make a high-caliber stink about reopening the only legal firearms sales outlet in the city, even in a nice neighborhood? No. The place has been a gun store for 50 years.” Read more
California Long Gun Registry Gets Little Notice in MSM
The mainstream media, even in California has been mostly mum on the pending legislation in California that could possible expand the state’s current handgun registration law to all long guns. The California Outdoor Heritage Alliance via our friends at Ammoland.com have followed the bill closely.
The current bill could come up for a vote on the California Senate Floor at any point. COHA noted that the bill “raced through the Assembly earlier this summer and is moving equally quick on the Senate side.” Read more
Concealed Carry: A First Person Account From Colorado
In June, my wife & I relocated back to Colorado from the state of ‘there outta be a law’ (also known as California.) Colorado is much friendlier to gun owners than California. For example, every firearms purchase or inheritance that I made in California required registration with the California Department of Justice. In Colorado, I have to register zero firearms per CRS 29-11.7-102 which prohibits gun registration by the state or any local government. Read more
EPA Reviewing Petition to Regulate Lead Ammunition
Earlier this week, the EPA agreed to formally review a petition submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD). The petition requests that the EPA ban the use of lead in firearms ammunition by exercising powers granted to the EPA under the Toxic Substance Control Act of 1976 (TSCA). Such a ban would cause the cost of ammunition to skyrocket because the cost of a replacement metal, like copper, is much more expensive. Copper is selling for $3.30 a pound on today’s spot market. Lead is only 91 cents a pound. Read more
Police to “Purchase Unwanted Firearms”
In a new program that isn’t limited to a single weekend buyback, the El Monte Police Department in the San Gabriel Valley of California has launched a program that is asking those in the community to turn in unwanted firearms and ammunition. This program, according to The San Gabriel Valley Tribune is paying a mere $50 for each gun, and will gun through September 30. Too bad many individuals will likely hand in potentially valuable items for just $50.
Gun Collecting: Machine Guns That Don’t Fire
- A non-firing MG-34 still looks very cool.
It might seem like a strange thing to buy; a machine gun that doesn’t actually shoot. But for collectors this really isn’t such an odd thing. Consider that military airplanes in museums don’t exactly fly, and those tanks you’ll see outside National Guard posts aren’t going to be doing any fighting any time soon. So while it may seem like heresy to the faithful gun collector, one alternative when it comes to machine guns is actually getting one that is “non-gun” or “dummy gun.” But there is a lot more to it. Read more
Ammoland Notes Another Challenge to California Ban on Ammo Shipments
It seems that if you can’t get guns out of people’s hands for some the next best thing to do is control the ammo they use. Our friends at Ammoland.com are reporting that the National Rifle Association (NRA) has joined with the Calguns Foundation, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, the Folsom Shooting Club and two individual truckers to challenge California’s upcoming ban on shipments of handgun ammunition to the state. Have you heard about any of this in the mainstream media? Probably not.
But as Ammoland.com notes:
“Assembly Bill 962 was signed into law last year. Starting in February 2011, the law will criminalize the delivery and transfer of handgun ammunition not done in face-to-face transactions. The law provides only a few exceptions to this shipping ban, and requires shipping companies to bear the burden of determining whether the recipient of a package containing handgun ammunition is covered by one of the exceptions before delivering the package. This will make shipping ammunition to California much more difficult, complicated, and expensive.”
We’ll be watching to see how this pans out, and whether the MSM bothers to report on it.
