Sales of AR-15 rifles equipped with “bullet buttons” are flying off gun store shelves as Californians try to buy the guns before newly-signed gun controls take effect in California.

“Bullet buttons” are devices that allow gun owners to remove empty magazines from their AR-15 rifles so a fully loaded magazine can be put in their place. AR-15s are typically made with a magazine release that makes switching out magazines a breeze, but Democrat lawmakers in California passed legislation barring such releases. That prohibition, in turn, gave rise to the invention of the “bullet button” as a way to continue using AR-15s with detachable mags.

On July 1, Governor Jerry Brown signed a ban on “bullet buttons.” That ban, effective January 1, 2017, will make the AR-15 a fixed-magazine rifle until someone figures out a new way to outsmart the Democrats who work so hard to legislate law-abiding citizens into a gun-free existence. (At least one company is trying.)

For now, California’s gun owners are trying to get in front of the implementation of the new controls by racing to their favorite stores to buy up every AR-15 with a “bullet button.” Sacramento’s Last Stand Readiness & Tactical has seen a deluge of customers wanting the rifles. Operations manager Christopher Lapinski told Fox News, “The whole anti-gun movement, taking guns from citizens, literally has everyone and their grandmother buying firearms before they can’t get them anymore because they want to be able to be protected.”

But for all the sales his store is currently experiencing, Lapinski indicates that gun control in California has now hit levels that make running a gun business unsustainable. He said, “We’ve looked into having to relocate to a different state, which is a terrible thing because we put money into this state.”

Lapinksi is eyeing November and hopes the “Veto Gunmageddon” movement will succeed in repealing some of the controls Brown signed on July 1. If that happens, stores like Last Stand Readiness & Tactical may be able to stave off being choked out of business by new regulation upon new regulation.

Photo: file

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.