As part of the ever-expanding web of bans, regulations, restrictions, and fees imposed on firearms in California, Golden State owners of AR pattern rifles were required to register them last year. But just as with similar registration laws passed in states like New York and Connecticut, most California AR owners responded to the registration requirement with a firmly raised middle finger directed at Sacramento.
Gun owners are only too aware that registration is a first step toward eventual confiscation and millions of California gun owners apparently decided that they’d rather risk the consequences of violating the law than report their firearms to the state.
That means that there are literally millions of now-illegal “assault weapons” in California. On Wednesday a Sacramento rookie policewoman, officer Tara O’Sullivan, was shot and killed with one of those rifles while responding to a domestic dispute call.
The Sacramento Police Department released body cam footage of the shooting.
O’Sullivan was allegedly murdered by Adel Sambrano Ramos. Inside the home, they found a pistol, a shotgun and two AR pattern rifles. Not only were the two rifles he used against the cops unregistered, but one or both had either pistol grips, adjustable stocks and removable magazines as well, all features which have been outlawed in the state for years.
Here’s the Associated Press’s report:
By Don Thompson
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California prosecutors filed a murder charge Friday alleging that a Sacramento man was lying in wait when he used one of two illegal assault rifles to kill a rookie police officer this week.
The charges filed by the Sacramento County district attorney include special circumstances that could subject 45-year-old Adel Sambrano Ramos to the death penalty. However, that decision is months away and Gov. Gavin Newsom has imposed a moratorium on executions.
Sacramento police said they were helping a woman collect her belongings from a Sacramento home as part of a domestic violence call when Ramos opened fire Wednesday evening, mortally wounding Officer Tara O’Sullivan, 26.
Officer Tara O’ Sullivan. (Sacramento Police Department via AP)
They said he continued shooting for hours, pinning down officers until they could use an armored vehicle to move O’Sullivan 45 minutes later.
He’s also charged with the attempted murder of a second officer, Daniel Chipp. The standoff with police lasted eight hours, with five officers firing their weapons.
Public defender Norm Dawson said he met briefly with Ramos but can’t comment until he receives more details in the case. Ramos is set for his first court appearance on Monday.
Prosecutors allege that Ramos had two AR-15 style rifles assembled from parts to create assault weapons that are illegal in California. One had a pistol grip and telescoping stock, the other a non-fixed magazine and with a pistol grip, according the charges.
Law enforcement officials have said such so-called ghost guns are a particular problem because they cannot be easily traced.
The special circumstances in the case accuse Ramos of knowing O’Sullivan was a police officer performing her duties, and killing her “while lying in wait,” which generally means that he took her by surprise before she knew an attack was coming.
“This is an ongoing investigation and we anticipate that additional charges may be added in the future,” prosecutors said.
Adel Sambrano Ramos. (Sacramento Police Department via AP)
Court records show that Ramos has a history of domestic violence restraining orders. He was wanted on a bench warrant issued nine days before the shooting for failing to appear on a charge that he battered a young woman last year.
“It would be inappropriate for me to comment any further until I have a chance to review the materials,” said Dawson, a supervising public defender. “It will be several months before we entertain entering any plea.”
Ramos also has not responded to an interview request from The Associated Press
O’Sullivan is the first Sacramento police officer to be killed on the job in two decades.
It is with a broken heart that we have to share with all of you that earlier today we lost one of our own. While on a call for service in North Sacramento, Officer Tara O’Sullivan was shot and killed. She gave her young life while protecting our community pic.twitter.com/MXr7C4M5qJ
