Sheriff John Zanoni and District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp declared that the wide array of attacks on gun rights does nothing to address the root source of the issue — violent criminals.
Pandering public officials resist with every ounce of their strength any move to bring the hammer down on those who actually commit crimes.
Instead, like Newsom, they enact wrongheaded measures that make it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to defend themselves.
SB 2 goes far beyond last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Bruen case by severely limiting where concealed carry holders may exercise this right. Also, all new gun owners must submit to 16 hours of training and gather at least two references just to obtain their concealed carry licenses (CCWs).
Fresno County officials said they will enforce the law but expressed serious concerns that its impact on the state’s burgeoning violence issue will be negligible.
Smittcamp told local media, “This law is not going to make people safer, it just isn’t. Less than two percent of the crimes that are committed with guns in this country are committed by lawful gun owners.”
That leaves the other 98% of criminals immune from the effects of the latest round of attacks on California gun rights.
Sheriff Zanoni concurred with the DA on the ineffectiveness of the laws to target the real problem. “Criminals will carry their guns wherever, we arrest people on a daily basis who are convicted gang members, who aren’t supposed to carry guns, but they have them. These are the individuals that need to be targeted by gun laws and more restrictive laws and stronger sentencing guidelines, not CCW holders.”
While Newsom and other state leaders crow about the new statutes, Zanoni noted that the people who are put behind bars for gun crimes “are being let out of jail, the same day they are arrested.”
Zanoni told a recent gathering of journalists that SB 2 aims to restrict where the good people of the state may exercise their right to keep and bear arms.
Proponents claim it will reduce violence, the sheriff explained, but that is far from the truth. The simple fact is that lawful permit holders commit few if any violent crimes involving firearms.
This is just more of California’s headlong rush into style over substance as it grapples with rampant lawlessness.
Lawmakers have been busy.
Among the package of fruitless measures Newsom recently signed into law was a new 11% state excise tax on firearms and ammunition. He went so far as to label it a “sin tax,” as if exercising Second Amendment rights is something to be ashamed of.
Besides increasing hurdles to concealed carry and so-called “gun-free zones,” SB 2 allows authorities to arbitrarily deny carry applications on purely random criteria.
SB 452 launched yet another futile attempt to establish microstamping requirements for semi-automatic pistols. The regulations would take effect by 2028 if the Department of Justice determines that the shaky technology is in fact viable.
Another new law, AB 1089, brings the weight of the state down on gun hobbyists who utilize CNC milling machines or 3D printers to produce weapons.
Still another, SB 1089, mandates that credit card companies use controversial merchant category codes to track weapon and ammunition purchases.
And all these amount to little or nothing in the real world battle against violent crime. In California, at least Fresno County officials are aware of this.
