In its never-ending effort to do anything other than what might possibly work, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is working on passing a parcel of gun control laws guaranteed to do nothing but fatten assorted lawyers’ bank accounts during the inevitable legal challenge. From Los Angeles radio station KNX:
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors today directed its attorneys to draft a series of ordinances aimed at regulating gun sales and possession in the county, including a ban on the sale of .50-caliber handguns and ammunition in unincorporated areas.
One might point out how all this does is have people wishing to purchase .50-caliber handguns and ammunition travel a short distance to one of Los Angeles County’s incorporated areas. But let’s not get technical. They’re doing something!
Another proposed ordinance would require “buffer zones” between gun/ammunition dealers and “sensitive areas” such as schools, day care centers and parks in unincorporated areas. Another would ban the possession of firearms on all county property.
Let us review. In California, there is a 10-day waiting period in-between purchasing a gun — any gun — and when the purchaser can take possession. This greatly reduces the possibility of someone waking up, deciding shooting up any given location is on the top of today’s to-do list, and dashing into the local gun shop to pick up a firearm. Therefore, the store’s location matters not. Perhaps the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors worries about schoolchildren mistaking the local gun shop for a candy store.
Although come to think of it, that’d be an interesting retail opportunity — a combination candy shop and gun store, where kids are taught from day one how to respectfully and responsibly handle firearms. As to banning having a gun on county property, given the tremendous success rate of gun-free zone laws elsewhere, surely this will solve all gun violence issues. Just like vaccines solved COVID.
The board also directed county staff to draft within 90 days a series of other regulations, including requiring ammunition dealers to obtain a county business license; restricting minors’ access to gun and ammunition stores; requiring such stores to submit annual sales reports to the county licensing agency and to submit weekly reports on inventory. The rules would also require weapons and ammunition stores to maintain a fingerprint log, install security cameras and notify all of its customers about “gun owner responsibilities and gun laws along with options for nearby gun safety classes,” according to the motion.
In case you wanted proof no one involved with these potential laws has ever set foot inside a gun store, this is it. 99.44% of the above is already on the books; the rest is basic sound business practice. Gun shop owners are not retro cowboys hankerin’ to shoot up the local saloon on Saturday night. For that matter, neither are their customers. Responsible gun owners walk the talk when it comes to gun safety. But, let’s not let reality get in the way of a good politically correct pose.
The story notes how all of the above came from a confidential study requested by the Board. Given that should there have been public hearings on the matter, people might have mentioned some icky truths, of course they did it in secret. But it’s okay; these are common-sense laws. They must be. Supervisor Janice Hahn, she of impeccable character judgment, said so!
“If we move forward with implementing these four common-sense gun regulations, I hope others in our county will follow suit,” Hahn said.
Or, maybe they’ll actually do something about the drug and mental health crises that are the actual problem. Don’t hold your breath.