I am a gun nut, as most of you know from my review of Battle: Los Angles. I adore everything and anything that fires a lead or steel projectile at several thousand feet per second. That said I find the gun control laws in The Republic of California to be more than substandard, indeed I find them utterly oppressive. In what ways are they oppressive? I’m not sure that even our legislators know about all of the laws they have passed and how they affect the gun owning citizen. For a brief summery I’ll inform you what your rights are as a citizen of the US and a citizen of California.
Starting us off is banned weapons in the US it is illegal to purchase or have a fully automatic center fire rifle or sub machine gun without a Federal Firearms License Class 3 (FFL3) in California it is illegal to own a fully automatic weapon, the only exception, is if you have had that weapon before 1989 and registered it with the Department of Justice. The reason this is bogus is because nearly every other state in the US will allow you to have just about any firearm imaginable so long as it meets with Federal regulation.
That is not to say that you can’t have a center fire rifle. In fact the Supreme Court recently ruled that the second amendment is a right and not a privilege, however they also ruled that it has “exceptions” and this will keep the current laws the way they are now.
Ammo capacity in magazines is limited to 10 rounds for every fire arm, and all detachable magazines in assault weapons have been banned. I do not believe in this law, because every single weapon technically has a detachable magazine, my M91-30 Mosin Nagant has a five round magazine, it is not easily detached but it can be detached, if its ammo capacity were over 10 would I be in violation of the law? It is not clearly defined anywhere in the penal code.
The thought process behind this law is also heavily flawed the idea is that by having more than one magazine it will be more difficult to fire a semi-automatic rifle and reload rapidly. This simply isn’t true, the Russian SKS is a completely legal fire arm, it has a 10 round internal magazine this magazine can’t be easily detached but it can be reloaded very rapidly through the use of stripper clips. And there are even deadlier rifles that are legal such as the US M1 Garand which takes eight 30-06 rounds and is easily reloaded.
Probably the worst laws in California regarding weapons however are the laws that regulate carrying weapons. In California you are well within your rights to openly carry any fire arm so long as it is unloaded, unloaded meaning that there is no rounds in the magazine or chamber, and if the magazine is detachable it cannot be inside the magazine well. But if you are outside city limits in the wilderness it is legal to carry a loaded firearm for defense purposes. Inside city limits you may open carry a gun so long as you aren’t within 1000 feet of a public building such as a library, city hall, or police station. Just as well you cannot carry any fire arm onto any school grounds this includes the parking lot.
Concealed carry is a hot button issue in California but like the assault weapons issue it is not controversial in many other states. California has a “Shall issue” concealed carry law, which means that it is up to the county Sherriff or City Police Chief to decide whether or not you should be allowed to carry a fire arm.
Additionally those seeking to obtain a license must pass a back ground check and be determined mentally fit, this is determined by a doctor, the person must also take numerous tests to see if they are morally fit and are proficient with the weapon of their choosing. all at the citizens expense of course, you must also present a “good cause” this really means that in places like Los Angeles and San Francisco it will be nearly impossible to obtain a concealed carry permit, while in rural places like Inyo County, or Tuolumne County it is relatively easy to obtain a permit.
So what do I make of all this? I think it’s just all an attempt at squashing crime and that there are good intentions behind these laws. But that does not change the fact that many of these laws are made from a protectionist mindset, when will the laws stop? Do we want to end up like the UK where the government has banned fire arms all together with the exception f shotguns? No, I don’t think Californians will tolerate that. Personally I believe that not only is it every citizens right to carry a fire arm it is every citizens responsibility to be able to defend themselves and others. If that means carrying guns then I believe we should be allowed to do so.
But does that mean that everyone should carry a gun? Of course not, all I’m saying is that it should be the citizen’s choice to carry not the government’s choice. But if you are going to carry a fire arm whether open or concealed you must become a proficient marksman with that weapon system. You cannot simply fire your gun every three months or so at the range and be expect to be able to defend yourself and others in a life threatening situation. You have to train with your firearm and you must realize the huge responsibility that comes with carrying an object that was designed with only one purpose, to kill other human beings.
Before you do anything though you should check with your local police station and find out about the law yourself. Individual cities may have their own ordinances regarding fire arms that may be out of line with the state law itself. Always be safe when handling a fire arm, never keep a fire arm loaded when it’s not in use and always remember to point it in a safe direction, Shoot smart and safe.
-By Joshua Sanchez
