California Forcing Guns Off the Market

By Jeff Knox

45 Pistol I Vote
California Forcing Guns Off the Market
FirearmsCoalition.org
FirearmsCoalition.org

Buckeye, AZ –-(Ammoland.com)-  California has long been on a sickening, spiral path toward flushing all individual rights down the toilet.  Few states have such a powerful and overreaching state government and nowhere is that overreach more apparent than in the state’s gun laws.

Back in 2000, California legislators instituted a system supposedly intended to protect the state’s citizens from cheap, poorly made, unreliable handguns – you know, the kind poor people can afford and that you would prefer criminals to have as opposed to accurate and reliable ones. 

They called them “junk guns” and said they should be banned because they were disproportionately being used in crime.  Instead of trying to make a list of “evil features” like they’ve done with “assault weapons,” the legislature went the opposite route, creating a roster of approved, “safe” handguns, and banning as “unsafe” any handgun that is not listed on the roster.

In order for a gun to be included on the roster, it must be submitted to a panel of “experts” who test and evaluate it in accordance with a long, convoluted list of criteria.  Gun companies are charged for this “service,” and must pay thousands of dollars for evaluation of each model and minor variation they wish to sell in the state.  Even cosmetic features such as a gun’s color and finish are included in this requirement, resulting in idiotic situations where one gun is declared “safe” while an identical gun of the same make and model is listed as unsafe simply because it has a nitride, rather than a blued finish and the manufacturer didn’t pay to have the nitride version evaluated.  In the real world this would be called extortion.

In 2003, legislators passed a law adding requirements for a loaded chamber indicator and a magazine disconnect.  They followed those requirements with a new edict in 2008 mandating that semi-auto handguns include Microstamping technology to transfer identification marks to shell casing when fired.  This provision was only supposed to go into effect after at least 2 companies were offering the technology without patent or licensing issues, but California Attorney General Kamala Harris activated the provision last year.

No major handgun manufacturers currently use Microstamping in their handguns – none.  Furthermore, Ruger, Glock, and Smith & Wesson have all declared that they have no intention of adding the expensive technology.  Handgun models currently on the roster can continue to be sold in the state as long as the company makes no changes to the design or features, and continues to pay the annual re-certification fees.  But any gun that is changed or improved in any way, and any new models that come out, will be illegal for commercial sale in California.

Gun companies have already incurred significant expense developing and producing “California compliant” versions of their guns, and they say Microstamping could cost an additional $100 to $200 per gun.  On top of that, no one knows what would be required to get Microstamping functional in a full-production factory setting; it has only ever been applied in a laboratory environment.

Last year, there were almost 820 different models and variations of semi-auto handguns on the California Roster of Safe Handguns.  The Calguns Foundation estimates that number will go down by approximately 125 guns per year as manufacturers make routine changes to their existing models and it becomes impractical to continue manufacture of older, obsolete versions.  At that rate, it is expected that virtually all semi-auto handguns could be illegal for commercial sale in the state within the next ten years.  And that decline rate could be accelerated precipitously if the California legislature decides to require some change to existing models – forcing them to be reevaluated for the roster.

Currently no mainstream gun manufacturer could comply, nor is any likely to be able to within the next decade.

The Calguns Foundation, along with the Second Amendment Foundation, has filed a federal lawsuit challenging California’s Safe Gun Roster.  That case is pending a ruling on summary judgment in Federal District Court and, regardless of the outcome, is expected to continue through the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and possibly the Supreme Court. The legal team includes Donald Kilmer, Jason Davis, and Alan Gura, who was lead attorney in both of the landmark Heller and McDonald cases before the Supreme Court.  A separate suit has been filed on behalf of manufacturers by the National Shooting Sports Foundation and the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute.

As always with gun control laws, the laws in California are having no effect on their disproportionately high crime rates – representing 68% of all “gun murders” in the nation – but are seriously impacting the ability of honest citizens to acquire the firearms of their choice.  California’s insane laws have already driven up handgun prices in addition to limiting consumers’ options and availability.

Now they are resulting in more and more guns being completely removed from the marketplace – but not from criminals.

©2014 The Firearms Coalition, all rights reserved.  Reprinting, posting, and distributing permitted with inclusion of this copyright statement.  www.FirearmsCoalition.org.

Links:

 

About:
The Firearms Coalition is a loose-knit coalition of individual Second Amendment activists, clubs and civil rights organizations. Founded by Neal Knox in 1984, the organization provides support to grassroots activists in the form of education, analysis of current issues, and with a historical perspective of the gun rights movement. The Firearms Coalition is a project of Neal Knox Associates, Manassas, VA. Visit: www.FirearmsCoalition.org

12 Comments
Most Voted
Newest Oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Einstein

The people of Mexifornia deserve what is happening for electing zionist scumbag cockroaches to office.

Frankenfeinstein, Boxerstein and commie governors are prime examples of what kind of zionist scum they choose to represent them.

I realize whoever has the most money wins 98% of all elections. This gives the zionists who create money out of thin air the advantage.

People must use their brain after being screwed by these criminals for so long. When society is being destroyed before your eyes, you don’t keep electing the same criminals over and over and over.

Bud

A Gen-4 Glock is “unsafe for me”. But it’s perfectly safe for a Police Officer to carry ? How does this ridiculous stupidity become Law ? The Ca. Roster is a gun ban. It has nothing to do w. safety.

dp

I like the idea of all gun and ammo manufactures cutting off the gov agencies. Stop selling cops ammo, gu s, and parts or add 10000% California douchbag tax

DoctorGunn

Just blow up I-10 and I-40 at the Colorado River to contain this cancer.

Patriot1

Too bad. Such a beautiful place, especially the San Diego area. I just visited it for the first time. I did get out into the countryside a little bit, in the wine country of the Temecula Valley. What you have in California is a tale of two cultures; you have the libtards in the large cities, and the more rugged, freedom loving outdoors crowd in the countryside, such as the ranchers and farmers. The cities are very beautiful, too bad the libtards have taken them over. If I were to live in California, I would probably live in Bakersfield or… Read more »

Daniel

I second the notion of boycott. If there’s one thing these anti-gun governments can’t do without, it’s guns.

martin fee

Every manufacturer should take their lead from Barrett and refuse to sell ANY weapons to anyone in the state including state and local governments. Let’s see how LAPD likes going back to Saturday night special .38s
Ammunition manufacturers and accessory manufacturer s should follow. See how California
Ns like it when ONLY criminals have guns and ammunition

nomanyeti

California should be broken into six or more subsets as recently suggested. Push all Liberal Democrats towards the Hollywood Hills and let the wind blow them away.

TexStan

Who votes these progressive legislators into office in the first place? How did Jerry Brown get elected more than once?? It is sad, and there surely are some intelligent, freedom seeking Californians. The majority, on the other hand…

gladimnotincali

Drive to a neighboring state for a gunshow and take your pdw of choice home. Or- if and when you buy a microstamped gun, also buy a backup replacement firing pin. Break your mocrostamped pin on day one and replace. Thats the problem with idiot gun laws, anybody who wants can work around.

AZ Ridgedog

The only way to end this madness is for firearms manufacturers to refuse to sell or service any product to state, county or municipal agencies of government. This includes through dealers, jobbers or wholesalers. Cut them off, remember “It’s for the children.”.