Gun control supporters often suggest what they call "common sense" gun laws.
It's their newest mantra, but a host of new California firearm proposals makes it clear that many of these proposals are more nonsensical than common sense. Reducing gun crime is a priority, but it is difficult to see how the latest proposals will head in that direction.
Senate Bill 264 by Senator Dave Min, D-Irvine, would ban gun shows on state property – a token measure that will not reduce gun violence. Gun buyers and sellers at public exhibition sites must comply with strict government regulations. There is no connection between arms exhibitions and violence. The shows will be moved to private locations.
Congregation Member Marc Levine, D-San Rafael Bill 1223 would impose an excise tax of up to 11 percent on the sale of weapons and ammunition to fund California Violence Intervention and Prevention (CalVIP) grants. Some community-based programs might help; others seem unproven at best. If such programs work, nonprofits should fund them.
Congregation member Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Laguna Beach's Bill for Congregation 1057 sounds good on the surface. It expands California's "Red Flag" law, which allows law enforcement agencies to confiscate weapons from people they deem dangerous for use on "ghost weapons". These are undetectable homemade firearms that have become popular thanks to the internet and 3D printing.
Governments are not good at predicting criminal behavior and instead violate the procedural rights of innocent gun owners. Ghost rifles proliferate mainly to circumvent the state's strict gun laws. The government isn't particularly effective at fighting underground markets, from weapons to narcotics.
California's Armed Prohibited Persons System (APPS), which allows state agents to confiscate weapons from people they shouldn't have, is a widespread bureaucratic mess plagued by an inaccurate database.
Meanwhile, Phil Ting, D-San Francisco's Bill 1237 would restrict public access to data on gun violence. It's hard to see how this will improve public safety – or how any of the two dozen weapon-related measures put in place at this session could be called useful.