Written by T. Logan Dayne
In what was a considerably predictive move, California Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed new legislation that would allow private citizens to enforce the state’s controversial “assault weapons ban”. The ban, which was overturned by the federal U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez for being unconstitutional and is now on stay, models the Texas abortion law which aimed to stop abortions after six weeks, typically when the heartbeat is detected. The Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), a rapidly growing firearms rights group aimed at protecting American liberties, has pledged a court challenge to the controversial legislation. In a statement the FPC cited that gun control measures such as this has frequently been the means which politicians have disadvantaged minorities and attacked American rights saying legislation like this is “really just modern-day Jim Crow laws designed to suppress the exercise of human rights the tyrants who run California don’t like,” they then went on to promise the protection of “the rights and property of peaceable gun owners in California.”
The proposed legislation is a tactic on Newsom’s part because he and his allies were unhappy with the decision of the United States Supreme Court to not rule on the Texas law. In this Newsom, a governor from a far different state, has decided to weigh in on legislation outside his bounds of authority by attacking his own constituents. The California “assault weapons” ban, a misnomer, aims to target everyday citizens who manufacture, distribute, transport, import, or sell “assault weapons”, .50 BMG rifles, ghost guns, or ghost gun kits. California legislators, not being well versed in firearms themselves, have made arbitrary rules as to what constitutes an “assault weapon”. The difference between an “assault weapon” or a California compliant rifle could be as simple as the type of grip it has or the stock which rests against the shoulder, very common features found in most rifles in the U.S. making it very easy for those unaware to be punished by these arbitrary features. A citizen could receive up to 8 years in jail for simply wanting a more comfortable grip.
Ghost Guns have become another boogeyman for politicians as well. Both citizen hobbyists who build guns and criminals that remove serial numbers from guns are being grouped together without distinction. A gun made and assembled without intent to sell in an individual’s private residence is a lawful and constitutional act. An individual who removes the serial number of a gun is considered to have committed a felony. Both cases, however, constituted the creation of a ghost gun. In trying to stop untraceable guns, California legislators will only further their attack on law abiding citizens under this new bill. Newsom claims to have no issue with guns or gun owners only with gun violence, but admits that the new legislation was not inspired under the pretense of safety, but under political manipulation of the Supreme Court.
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