Gun Control: Going National

I've already commented enough about guns, a subject about which I have no first-hand experience (I suppose I'm lucky?). Excerpts from past posts:

2012:

I have never owned a gun. The last gun I fired was in high school ROTC, and I doubt that I'll use one again. For me owning a firearm carries too much risk of an accident, of it being stolen, or, in the worst case, of me or someone I love being tempted to use it in a moment of weakness.

February 14, 2018:

As one who has the highest respect for the Constitution but at the same time doesn't regard the right to bear arms as essential to my being, I--and I suspect many Americans--am willing to consider drastic solutions, including a ban on gun sales and even a ban on gun ownership. I think either of those goals will be too difficult to attain, but if someone can put together a plausible plan that people will get behind, let's listen.

February 17, 2018:

Gun-confiscation and banishment advocates---I meet them every day in the Bay Area---have no answer to the following questions: 1) Why would passing such a law solve the mass shooting problem, when the laws don't work in stopping illegal immigration? 2) ....Or in curing the drug epidemic? 3) Shall police invade the homes of millions of owners who refuse to turn in their guns? 4) Just what is the plan to repeal the Second Amendment, which requires the assent of 38 state legislatures?

After watching some of the demonstrations earlier today, I am convinced that some conservative blogs were correct in their assessment: Was Gun Control Rally Just A Big Voter Registration Drive?

Politicians have a habit of saying whatever it takes to get elected, then not doing what they promised. Many Republican voters were sorely disappointed that a budget bill bursting with spending on Democratic causes like Planned Parenthood and nothing for the President's southern wall was signed yesterday.

As for the Democrats, they were never more dominant than from 2009 to 2010 when they had a liberal President and a filibuster-proof Congress---and they did nothing for gun control. (Another example of Democrats placing power over principle: President Trump has said that he is willing to solve the limbo-like status of the DACA children in exchange for curtailing future illegal immigration; illegal immigrants are a source of future Democratic votes, i.e., a building block to a permanent majority, while the DACA kids are already in the Democratic camp. No surprise, the President's negotiation offer has so far been rejected.)

A final note: California has some of the most restrictive gun-control laws in the nation. Wikipedia: [bold added]

The gun laws of California are some of the most restrictive in the United States. A 5-year Firearm Safety Certificate, obtained by paying a $25 fee, submission of applicant data to the state, and passing a written test proctored by a DOJ Certified Instructor, is required for the sale, delivery, loan, or transfer of any firearm. Handguns sold by dealers must be "California legal" by being listed on the state's Roster of Handguns Certified for Sale. This roster, which requires handgun manufacturers to pay a fee and submit specific models for safety testing, has become progressively more stringent over time and is currently the subject of a federal civil rights lawsuit on the basis that it is a de facto ban on new handgun models. Private sales of firearms must be done through a licensed dealer. All firearm sales are recorded by the state, and have a ten-day waiting period. Unlike most other states, California has no provision in its state constitution that explicitly guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms.

Semi-automatic firearms that the state has classified as assault weapons; .50 BMG caliber rifles; and high-capacity magazines (magazines that can hold more than ten rounds of ammunition) may not be sold in California.

Despite these laws, mass shootings still occur in California (2013--Santa Monica, 5 dead; 2014--Isla Vista, 7 dead; 2015--San Bernardino, 14 dead; 2017 - Tehama County, 4 dead.)

SF March for our Lives (KTVU image)

SF Chronicle: Thousands protest in Oakland, SF to demand an end to gun violence. The demonstrators can't be talking about California, because we already have the laws that gun-controllers want (a Democratic governor with a filibuster-proof Democratic legislature can do whatever they please). Maybe California's doing so great we want to go national?