Sunday, December 05, 2010

California's delightful double standard: no ID required for voting--but those who buy a box of ammo will get fingerprinted

California officials have resisted common sense voter ID rules for years, most recently hampering the introduction of a ballot initiative last month.

But starting on 1 Feb. 2011, Californians wishing to buy ammo will be treated like common criminals. Fingerprinting and record-keeping of the purchase will be required -- to buy a box of ammo!

...the double standard is glaringly obvious. When we ask that voters produce identification as they cast a ballot — which would be a reasonable and necessary precaution against the very real and serious crime of election fraud — they tell us no, that’s un-American and racist. But it’s okay to pointlessly harass gun owners who are exercising a legal and Constitutionally-protected activity...

Here’s what will happen as the law kicks in. Gun owners will be hurrying to buy ammunition prior to the deadline. In order to get exactly what they want, in the quantities they want, in the time allowed, they will order from out of state. (That’s what I’ve done.) So we’ll see a short-term spike in purchasing…but much of the sales volume will slip away from in-state vendors. Then, after the deadline passes, California retailers will see sales drop precipitously...

...gun owners will find a way to make a large out-of-state purchase once a year or so... One way or another, a large number of us will obtain ammo while evading the state-mandated persecution. Gun owners are the sort of people that don’t take this sort of abuse sitting down.

When the numbers come in, and it becomes clear that Sacramento has done nothing more than drive its own vendors out of business during a time of extreme hardship when they needed help rather than mistreatment, some of the saner lawmakers will suggest that this idiotic and counterproductive legislation be reversed. It’s possible the bill will be repealed, although I wouldn’t count on it. More likely, the kooks in power will tell us it’s good that ammunition retailers are going broke, because now they’ll stop selling that nasty stuff that nice people shouldn’t buy, and instead open new businesses in green industries, and then they’ll hire lots of workers for good-paying green jobs...

California should change its slogan to "Where law-abiding citizens are treated like illegal immigrants -- and vice versa"!


3 comments:

juandos said...

Hmmm, I wonder if the NRA will challenge this in court?

I wonder if the following is what Tammy Bruce was refering to?

CRPA FOUNDATION SEEKS INJUNCTION TO STOP AB 962

Monday, 20 September 2010 12:47

'On June 17, 2010, the CRPA Foundation filed a lawsuit in Fresno Superior Court challenging the ammunition regulation statutes enacted by Assemblyman Kevin De Leon’s Assembly Bill (AB) 962 from the 2009 legislative session. The suit challenges AB 962’s requirement that "handgun ammunition" be stored out of the reach of customers, the ammunition sales registration and fingerprinting requirements, and the bill’s prohibition on mail order and internet sales.  The lawsuit primarily alleges that the mandates of AB 962 are incomprehensible, and that the law’s definition of "handgun ammunition" is unconstitutionally vague'...

Mike aka Proof said...

Yeah. But when they drive the vendors out of business, at least the sales tax revenue to the state will go down.
Maybe they didn't think this one through?

Tom Jones said...

"it becomes clear that Sacramento has done nothing more than drive its own vendors out of business"

Precisely. Being unable to erase the 2nd Amendment outright, the wonderful state government of California (and others taking their cue, yeah, I'm looking at you, New York and New Jersey) will make it as difficult as possible to own, operate, practice with, sell/transfer, resupply, and maintain any type of firearm.

All gun owners should read John Ross' excellent book "Unintended Consequences". The setup of the book is exactly what is happening now.