Vacuous in Vallejo

Have the editorial calls for yet more draconian gun legislation been particularly ubiquitous the last couple days, or am I just noticing more of them? This time, it's the editorial staff of the Vallejo Times Herald, singing the praises of California Assembly Bill 1471. This bill, already passed the Assembly, would mandate that by 2010, any new pistol that did not have its internal working parts "microstamped" with the gun's make, model and serial number would be classified as "unsafe," and thus ineligible for sale in California.

It's about sensible gun control legislation Californians can live with . . .

Legislation that people "can live with" is hardly a rousing endorsement--people can live with being imprisoned for decades--that's hardly a reason to be happy about it.

. . . it's not a knee-jerk reaction to the horrors of Virginia Tech, . . .

Clearly not, as California has tried to pass such legislation in the past. What it is a knee-jerk reaction to is the perennial, and apparently nearly universal, wish on the part of California legislators to make gun ownership as expensive and cumbersome as possible.

. . . and it's about time.

It's about time to realize that those who would commit murder cannot be expected to think twice about defying laws regulating the "safety" of their choice in murder weapons.

It seems to me that we are constantly bombarded with the assertion that most of the guns used in crimes in states with restrictive gun laws (and California would certainly have to be considered among those states) are obtained in other states. Would that not mean that laws regulating which guns can be sold in California will have little effect on the guns actually used in crimes?

The NRA has compiled a list of objections to this legislation (I have my share of issues with the NRA, but these are well constructed arguments). To save time, I'll just repeat them here:

RESEARCH SHOWS THAT MICRO-STAMPING IS FLAWED TECHNOLOGY -The technology has not been tested in real world scenarios and recently failed testing in ideal laboratory conditions. In 2006, the Legislature requested a state-funded study of micro-stamping technology by forensic experts and researchers at U.C. Davis. The researchers found this patented technology "flawed" and concluded, “At the current time it is not recommended that a mandate for implementation of this technology in all semiautomatic handguns in the state of California be made. Further testing, analysis and evaluation is required.”

MICRO-STAMPING IS NOT SUPPORTED BY CALIFORNIA LAW ENFORCEMENT - The bill has received NO SUPPORT from California statewide law enforcement organizations of sheriffs, police chiefs, rank-and-file officers associations or the Attorney General.

MICRO-STAMPING WILL INCREASE THE POTENTIAL CIVIL LIABILTY FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES - AB 1471 specifies that any new handguns not micro-stamped would fall into a category of handguns declared by the State of California as being “unsafe”. If California government agencies decide to purchase non-micro-stamped, “unsafe” handguns and issue them to their officers, they would leave their own staff open to civil litigation if they become involved in any shooting-related incidents.

MICRO-STAMPING TECHNOLOGY CAN BE EASILY DEFEATED - The micro-stamped parts of the handgun can easily be replaced without the use of tools. Advocates of the technology confirmed this in policy committee hearings in 2006, stating the firearm parts with “micro-stamping” could be easily altered in less than 30 minutes. The firearm parts also remain vulnerable to natural degradation and eventually will be erased through normal wear and tear.

MICRO-STAMPING CREATES FALSE EVIDENCE TRAILS - Micro-stamped cartridge cases fired and abandoned at government agencies’ facilities or private shooting ranges could be gathered and used to “seed” crime scenes with “evidence” implicating law enforcement officers and citizens to crimes they had nothing to do with.

MICRO-STAMPING WILL DRAMATICALLY INCREASE THE PRICE OF FIREARMS FOR ALL CONSUMERS - AB 1471 requires a complete redesign of the handgun manufacturing process and paying large licensing fees to the micro-stamping technology patent holder. The mandate in AB1471 could create a government-sanctioned monopoly for the patent holder to sell their technology at any price they choose. [That, I submit, is the real motivation behind this legislation. Many gun manufacturers will likely find California not worth the trouble (and expense) of doing business in--leaving many guns out of reach for law-abiding Californians--at any price.]

MICRO-STAMPING COULD TRAP CONSUMERS INTO COMMITTING A CRIME - AB 1471 would make the everyday practice of maintaining and repairing firearms (as outlined in the handgun owners’ manual) a felony. If a person needed to replace commonly worn out, “micro-stamped” parts to keep their handgun safely operating, that person would be violating federal law because the alteration, removal and obliteration of a manufacturer’s or importer's markings on those parts carries the penalty of up to ten years in federal prison and $250,000.00 fine.

This bill would do nothing but further tighten the screws on gun owners--the real agenda of the bill's proponents.