Since the passage of “Gunpocalypse” (June 30, 2016), and Proposition 63 (November 8, 2016), California Democrats have learned that gun control is easy to pass but difficult to implement.
The problem for Democrats is that they have already passed so many gun laws that they have now begun trading the real for the theoretical, struggling to find a way to stop the crimes and terrorist attacks that none of their existing gun controls have stopped. In fact, Democrats are fighting for gun control with such fervor that one of their current undertakings is reworking a previous law in order to bar law-abiding teachers from carrying guns for self-defense.
It was in this spirit of gun control upon gun control that the Democrats passed Gunpocaplyse and Prop. 63.
The Firearms Policy Coalition measures consisted of:
SB 880: Bans common and constitutionally protected firearms that have magazine locking devices.
SB 894: Re-victimizes victims by criminalizing the failure to report lost and stolen firearms.
SB 1235: Now competes with Gavin Newsom’s Safety for All Act/Ammo Ban [by enacting ammunition background checks].
SB 1446: Confiscation of lawfully acquired, standard capacity ammunition feeding devices.
AB 857: Forced “Ghost Gun” registration.
AB 1135: Bans common and constitutionally protected firearms that have magazine locking devices.
AB 1511: Bans the loaning of firearms.
AB 1673: Redefines “firearms” to include items that are not firearms.
AB 1674: Bans buying more than one firearm within a 30-day period.
AB 1695: Makes some non-violent misdemeanors punishable by prohibitions on owning firearms.
AB 2607: Dramatically expands who can request a Gun Violence Restraining order.
Prop. 63 consisted of a “high capacity” magazine ban and a background check requirement for all ammunition sales. All of these laws were passed after universal background checks, gun registration requirements, gun confiscation laws, a ten-day waiting period on gun purchases, an “assault weapons” ban, a “good cause” requirement for concealed carry, and numerous other state and local gun controls – -including gun-free zones — proved impotent to stop the December 2, 2015 San Bernardino attackers. But now that all the gun controls have been passed, The Trace reports that implementing them is another story altogether.
According to The Trace, California’s Office of Administrative Law found fault with the way the wording of the “assault weapons” ban had been presented to the public for comment. And on June 29, “a federal judge in San Diego issued a preliminary injunction halting the statewide ban on the possession of magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds from taking effect.”
Because of these and other problems, deadlines for citizens to register their “assault weapons” have been pushed back six months, and there are those who believe deadlines may be pushed back further.
The problem is simple: what works on paper does not always work in the real world. And because Democrats continue to theorize that gun control works, against the weight of the evidence, there is a growing chance their hypothesis will collapse under the weight of reality.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com
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