Louisville, KY - Townhall is on the ground in Louisville for the National Rifle Association’s Annual Meeting, a three-day gathering of pro-Second Amendment supporters that’s expected to attract tens of thousands of people. And it looks like it couldn’t have begun at a better time, as California is emerging as a leader for anti-gun legislation. A string of pro-gun control measures passed yesterday, which gun rights advocates have called “gun-megeddon” (via LA Times):
The state Senate on Thursday approved sweeping new restrictions on using guns in California in response to the December mass shooting by two terrorists that left 14 dead in San Bernardino.Lawmakers approved 11 bills including measures mandating background checks for Californians buying ammunition and outlawing the manufacture and sale of semiautomatic rifles with detachable magazines.
The bills, which next go to the Assembly for consideration, represent the most ambitious effort at gun control in decades in California, which already has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation.
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The measures banning rifles with detachable magazines and requiring background checks for ammo buyers are opposed by the National Rifle Assn., Gun Owners of California and the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the firearms industry.
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Two of the bills approved by the Senate would ban the manufacture and sale of semiautomatic rifles with detachable magazines as well as semiautomatic, center-fire rifles with “bullet buttons,” a recessed button that, when pressed by a sharp object, allows removal of the magazine.
Those already possessing such guns would have to register them with the state as assault rifles.
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Yet another bill approved Thursday, authored by De León [Senate President Pro Tem Kevin De León (D-Los Angeles)], would require those buying ammunition to present identification, which would be used by the seller to check to make sure the buyer is not a felon or otherwise prohibited from possessing guns.
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This is as close to a total gun ban as one could get, and I hope legal action is taken in the coming months over this egregious infringement on Second Amendment rights.
State Sen. Isadore Hall (D-Compton) told the LA Times that the bill regarding “’bullet buttons’ addresses the kinds of guns used in the San Bernardino shooting.’ These types of firearms have no legitimate use for sport hunters or competitive shooters.’”
Actually, AR-15s (the weapons used in the San Bernardino shooting), or any rifle with a detectable magazine, are used for hunting—and they’re popular with competitive shooters, which, along with self-defense, is why millions of Americans own centerfire rifles. At our sister site Bearing Arms; Bob Owens aptly noted that the AR-15 could be chambered in 30 calibers, is excellent for feral hog hunting (who are menaces to the surrounding environment), and (again) used for competitive shooting and marksmanship training.
As with most anti-gun lawmakers, they know nothing about firearms. Keep in mind, this is the state where lawmakers thought a “ghost gun” could shoot a “.30-caliber clip to disperse with 30 bullets within half a second. Thirty magazine clip in half a second.” That was Kevin De Leon, who wants to make sure you go through a background check for simply buying ammunition.
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