Gun Laws and Crime in California

[Marty]

California has 11 cities in the top 100 cities with the highest crime rate.

The following list (taken out of a table) is based on Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniform Crime Reports statistics that initially became available in September 2009. Rates are based on cases per 100,000 for all of calendar 2008.

Ranked #2 is Los Angeles
Ranked #10 is San Diego
Ranked #11 is San Jose
Ranked # 16 is San Francisco
Ranked # 39 is Fresno
Ranked # 40 is Sacramento
Ranked # 41 is Long Beach
Ranked # 49 is Oakland
Ranked # 61 is Bakersfield
Ranked # 66 is Riverside
Ranked # 67 is Stockton

[Marty]

Here are the Gun laws in California taken off the web.

Gun laws in California

1. State Permit to Purchase? Long Guns = No; Handguns = No
All firearm sales (except long guns more than 50 years old) must be completed through a dealer. Handgun purchases require a Handgun Safety Certificate and proof of residency.
Relevant Statutes: *12070; *12071; *12082

2. Firearm Registration? Long Guns = No; Handguns = No
All handgun sales are recorded by the state. Longarm serial numbers are not recorded, only the sale. There is no requirement to register firearms with law enforcement. New residents must register handguns (purchased outside of California) with DOJ within 60 days.

3. "Assault weapon" law? Long Guns = Yes; Handguns = Yes
Legally defined assault weapons and .50 BMG rifles listed by make and model by the DOJ must be registered. Their sale and transfer is prohibited. Military look-alike rifles that are not chambered for .50 BMG and are not on the DOJ roster are legal to purchase or possess, with some restrictions in configuration—known as "banned features."
Relevant Statutes: *12280; *12285

4. Owner license required? Long Guns = No; Handguns = No

5. Carry permits issued? Long Guns = NA; Handguns = Yes
May issue, depending on jurisdiction.
Relevant Statutes: *12050

6. State Preemption of local restrictions? Long Guns = Yes; Handguns = Yes
Most but not all local restrictions preempted.
Relevant Statutes: *53701

7. NFA weapons restricted? Long Guns = Yes; Handguns = Yes
Possession of automatic weapons or short-barreled shotguns or rifles prohibited without DOJ "Dangerous Weapons Permit"; permission rarely granted outside of film industry. Suppressors (aka silencers) prohibited. AOW's (Any Other Weapons) permitted, except for "pen guns."
Relevant Statutes: *12220; *12020

8. Peaceable Journey laws? Long Guns = No; Handguns = No

California is a "may issue" state for concealed carry. A license to carry a concealed firearm may be issued or denied to qualified applicants at the discretion of the county sheriff or municipal police chief. California does not recognize concealed carry permits issued by other states.

Open carry of loaded firearms in public is generally prohibited except in unincorporated areas where the county has not made open carry illegal or where the discharge of firearms is not prohibited. Carrying of an unloaded, unconcealed firearm in plain sight is not prohibited except in areas otherwise prohibiting the carry of firearms under state or federal law, such as school zones, post offices, government buildings, state and national parks, "sterile" areas controlled by security screenings, etc.

The buyer of a firearm must fill out an application to purchase a particular gun. The firearms dealer sends the application to the California Department of Justice (DOJ), which performs a background check on the buyer. The approved application is valid for 30 days. There is a 10 day waiting period for the delivery of any firearm.

Sales of firearms from one person to another (private party transfers) must be through a licensed firearms dealer using a Private Party Transfer form. The licensed dealer may charge a $10 fee, in addition to the $25 transfer fee that the state charges. Any number of firearms may be transferred at one time using this method. The dealer submits a Dealer's Record of Sale (DROS) form to the state, and the purchaser must wait 10 days before picking up the guns. Federally defined curio or relic long guns over 50 years old may be sold without going through a licensed dealer.

Handgun purchases, except for private party transfers, are limited to one per 30 day period. To purchase a handgun, a buyer must have a Handgun Safety Certificate.[29] This is obtained by passing a written test, given by a Department of Justice certified instructor, on the safe and legal use of handguns. The certificate is valid for five years. A buyer must also perform a Safe Handling Demonstration when taking possession of a handgun. Some individuals are exempt from the Safety Certificate and Handling Demonstration requirements, including active and retired military and law enforcement personnel, hunter safety certificate holders, and concealed carry license holders.

Dealers may not sell any handgun unless it is listed in the Department of Justice roster of handguns certified for sale. Listed handguns must include certain mechanical features and pass a set of laboratory tests. Private party transfers, curio/relic handguns, certain single-action revolvers, and pawn/consignment returns are exempt from this requirement.

It is illegal to sell a firearm that the state has defined as an "assault weapon", and which has been listed in the DOJ roster of prohibited firearms, which includes many military look-alike semi-automatic rifles and .50 caliber BMG rifles. DOJ rostered firearms may be legally possessed if already registered with the state prior to January 2005. Military look-alike firearms that are not listed on the DOJ roster of prohibited firearms, known as "off list lowers", are legal to own and possess, as long as state laws concerning configuration are followed. It is illegal to import, sell, give, trade, or lend a magazine that holds more than 10 rounds of ammunition, except for fixed tubular magazines for lever-action rifles and .22 caliber rifles; however, the possession of such magazines is legal. It is illegal to possess an automatic firearm or a short-barreled shotgun or rifle without permission from the Department of Justice; such permission is generally not granted.

On October 13, 2007, California enacted AB 1471. This controversial law requires that, effective January 1, 2010, semi-automatic handguns be equipped with microstamping technology and be listed in the roster of handguns certified for sale. When such a pistol is fired, the microstamping mechanism will imprint each cartridge case with a microscopic array of characters that will uniquely identify the gun that fired it. However, the text of this law has language which states that it will not be enforced if there is only one manufacturer which has the ability to equip this technology. As of the this writing, only one such manufacturer exists, and there are no others on the horizon.

On October 11, 2009, California enacted AB 962, adding new requirements for the sale of ammunition. Effective July 2010, ammunition sales must take place in person, and dealers must keep records of ammunition sales for at least five years. Effective February 2011, buyers of ammunition must provide a thumbprint and state identification.

[Marty]

I like Guns

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TC2xTCb_GU

[Ringer]

The California utopia is soon to be ruined by the Constitution. The SC is ruling on the Chicago gun control case next year and smart money is on a ruling which will make the right to keep and bear arms an individual right not to be infringed by some whacko liberal state or city. I am sure the ammo laws will be thrown out shortly thereafter. I can't wait to hear the squealing.

[Vince E]

Me too.

[Vince E]

While that ruling would appease a lot of gun owners, the real story here is that it would further cement the feds unlawful imposition of authority over what are supposed to be sovereign states by once again telling states what they can and can't do. A real pickle huh?

Considering the growing movement by some states to manufacture guns for sale and use only in those respective states, thus thumbing their noses at the ATF(E) in a play on the 10th Amendment, any SC ruling in favor of guns could just be a rouse to get us all to forget about the illegal federal power grab on the states (and their money too) and to also forget about that pesky 10th Amendment.

A successful exploitation of the 10th by states would be far more threatening to the feds than letting us have our guns.

Just noticed this:
http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/200 ... -gun-laws/

That's even better although it would still leave us at the mercy of the leftists here in CA.
However if this trend gets real traction it could start to get us back to a real Republic. Then we could all move out of CA and let the liberals destroy it. We'll say I told you so, neah neah neah neah neah....

[Vince E]

Here's a great piece that almost says it all:

In the 6th Century BC, Chinese warrior Sun Tzu wrote The Art of War. It has been the definitive treatise on waging war for 26 centuries now. Only thirteen chapters, it was translated first in 1782 when a French Jesuit priest living in China, Joseph Amiot, acquired a copy of it, and translated it into French. Subsequent translations have honed the text into English.

The book is available for free through The Gutenberg Project at: The Art of War. I strongly recommend this short read, as the truth can be used in many areas of human interaction.

For this article, I shall concentrate on his writings about waging war by deception. Here are some of his thoughts.

Chapter 1:18 All war is based on deception.

Chapter 2:2 Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.

Chapter 2:18 If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.

Chapter 6:8 That general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.

Chapter 6:9 O divine art of subtlety and secrecy! Through you we learn to be invisible, through you inaudible; and hence we can hold the enemy's fate in our hands.

Chapter 6:12 If we do not wish to fight, we can prevent the enemy from engaging us even though the lines of our encampment be merely traced out on the ground. All we need do is to throw something odd and unaccountable in his way.

The general concept that I want you to take away from these verses is that in order to win many battles, you must keep your enemy off balance, deceived and confused about your strategies and tactics. If you can attack him at many weak points, he will have to respond, and therefore, you control both the location and the tempo of the battle. This will be important in the thoughts and questions below.

I’ve been writing lately about secession and the well-regulated militia, and how they should be inextricably tied to one another. From the reactions I’m receiving from readers, this concept seems to be somewhat new to them.

Specifically, I and other writers have referred to the truest meaning of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which states: "A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a Free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

How many millions of words have been written about the Second Amendment?

Starting with the 1856 Dred Scott decision by the Supreme Court, to the National Firearms Act of 1934 and up to this day, Americans have seen infringement upon infringement piled upon them. But, do you remember in your lifetime hearing of ANY of those regulations that dealt with the security of a Free State?


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Could it be that the arguments made over the last 150 years about gun control... the laws and regulations passed by states and the Federal government...and any talk about personal safety, crime prevention, hunting and sport shooting...have been a clever diversion away from the clear intention of the words of the Second Amendment?

Think about it from a purely tactical viewpoint. If you and I are in an argument about a certain topic, and I can get you to engage in a related topic that looks important, but completely diverts you from the real issue, I’ve won. I can drag you around by your nose ring for as long as you want to argue about what matters LEAST. Meanwhile, I can do pretty much what I want in regard to the real issue.

It is the same as General Tzu’s admonition to attack the enemy where he is weakest, combined with his recommendations to attack at multiple weak locations simultaneously. The enemy will expend itself defending its weak points while you conquer.

Isn’t this what Washington and most of the states have done? They have enacted gun legislation and regulations that force citizens to challenge them in the very courts that the tyrants control. Meanwhile, the politicians subtly changed our states and our nation.

The Second Amendment is the effort of the Founders to guarantee that the sovereign states would protect a mechanism whereby the states might thwart Federal tyranny through armed resistance, if only as a last resort. Now, there is nothing in the Amendment about any "last resort." Common sense dictates that all efforts to settle any difference would proceed peaceably first. And, when a well-regulated state militia is a day-to-day reality, it acts as a deterrent merely by its existence. Thugs seldom attack armed people.

Go ask Switzerland if a militia works. They haven’t been invaded in nearly 500 years.

Washington and the state legislatures have bleached out the reality of the well-regulated state militia from the American fabric. Meanwhile, Americans have been hoodwinked into fighting about whether or not they can carry a gun with or without a permit, or packing heat in a bar or restaurant. While those turf wars raged, Washington absorbed the sovereignty of the states, and made the states into serfdoms.

So, can you now see that because "A well-regulated Militia...is...necessary to the security of a Free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed?"

States need to reclaim their sovereignty by revitalizing their state militias. Through the militia, states will once again gain their true freedom to regulate the Federal Government that once was their servant. And, in the failure of the exertion of state sovereignty to control the actions of Washington, the unhappy states may secede knowing that they are capable of defending their decision from all who would attempt to use force to prevent their exit.

January 2, 2010

Russell D. Longcore [send him mail] is president of Abigail Morgan Austin Publishing Company. He is married to "his Redhead" Julie, has three wonderful children and three even more wonderful grandchildren. Visit his secessionist website at: www.DumpDC.com.