For years, they have been chipping away at the second
amendment rights of Californians through asinine legislation on ammunition and
firearms with little or no affect on the crime rate regarding violence in which
a gun is involved. Each year, it seems that each legislative session would not
be complete without a massive number of bills restricting gun ownership and
use.
It looks like this state’s gun-grabbers have finally hit the jackpot with the microstamping law. Every new weapon sold in the California is now required to have a laser-etched serial number engraved on the firing pin and breach.
The idea is that when the firing pin hits the primer it will
leave an impression of the serial number on the primer of the spent cartridge.
In Addition, the force of the cartridge against the breach (bolt or breach
block) will leave an additional serial number impression on the edge of the
cartridge.
So now you have easily identifiable rounds left at a crime
scene. Ain’t technology great?
Sturm Ruger and Smith and Wesson don’t seem to think so. They have ceased all sales in California. That’s right folks; of all the hoops and hurdles being forced on gun makers, microstamping was one too many. The gun-grabbers have obtained their real objective of forcing gun sales out of the state – at least for two of
the high-quality brands of weapons.
Neither Ruger nor Smith and Wesson have ever made what could be remotely considered “Saturday night specials.”
Apparently, it makes no difference to the misguided
lawmakers that their over-the-top law won’t work. They got the result they were
after from two manufacturers and others are sure to follow the exodus.
Reason and logic have always been in short supply in
Sacramento. Here are some of the things our not-so-astute lawmakers might have
overlooked:
Topping the list is that Law Enforcement weapons are exempt from microstamping. This is absurd from two standpoints. First, how will cartridges from legally exempt weapons be recognized from those fired from weapons bought before the law went into effect? Second, now manufacturers are forced to make a civilian model and a police model just to sell in California.
If we discount the not-insignificant cost of laser etching firing pins and breaches, the concept falls flat on its face when you realize how easy it is to defeat the stamping. Due to the very small size of the etch, it would be easier to grind off the mictostamps than it is to remove the serial number from a gun’s frame.
What happens when a broken firing pin is replaced? Even if the replacement has been microstamped, it is unlikely to match the etching on the breach. Will that be a problem? Will the owner need to re-register the weapon?
And that’s another flaw in the law. Obviously, the original purchaser will need to register the gun – microstamp serial number and all. Additional buyers (second, third, etc.) will need to re-register, but how will they get the microstamp code? What happens if the weapon is stolen or lost and the owner is unaware it is gone?
He could now be charged with a crime he didn’t commit simply because he didn’t
know his gun was taken without his knowledge and didn’t report the loss.
Are our lawmakers so inept and naive that they haven’t
considered these flaws? Or are they merely sly enough to know that if they
impose ridiculous regulations on manufacturers that gun makers will just quit
selling in the state?
Today this oppression exists only in California, but you can bet other “Blue” states are taking a hard look at the underhanded tactics used here. The only question is how long will it be before microstamping laws spread across the country. Now that the gun-grabbers have found that they can achieve their goals by imposing economically restricting regulations on gun makers, they are very likely to create even more until there are no more manufacturers left in this country.
Our grandkids will ask, “Grampa, what was the second
amendment all about?”
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