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Mosin Nagant (courtesy ultimatereloader.com)

Over at Gun Rights Across America, DrVino writes:

As autumn approaches, the Conflator in Chief is ginning-up the Civilian Disarmament Complex ™ to respond to Uncle “Double-Barrel” Joe’s promises to take another shot (…) at the Campaign to Strip Americans of their Constitutional Right to Keep and Bear Arms. While the national stage has seen some of the most disgusting exploitation and race baiting over an already-misrepresented nature of the Zimmerman case, quietly and steadily, the statist thugs known as the California Democratic Party are pushing ahead to realize their delusions of making the almost-broke-and-not-so-golden-anymore state into a rainbows-and-blue-skies utopia which is intolerant of intolerance and individual differences. As if ideology-made-law will prevent the likes of Harrison Bergeron . . .

We called them ‘statists’, but they might as well be Ba’athist or Chinese Communists (well, at least one of them likely is). In no other state is the need to dial up the vigilance and readiness against unconstitutional repressions than in California. We are facing a double whammy. And that was the plan.

Biden lit up phone lines to various state legislature leaders and governors in the last few months, urging them to attack on the local front while he, The Non-Transparent One, Dianne “Early Signs of Dementia” Feinstein, Chuckie “I Took an NRA Sharpshooting-Class at Camp Once” Schumer and Mayor Mike the Exempt pounded away at the national level.

Meanwhile, the shelves of gun stores went bare and the NRA gained a million new members (a 25% increase to 5 million). Methinks national referendums need not take place only in voting booths. Apparently retail receipts per month can be a very strong statement, as well. But, back to California . . .

According to a fairly recent piece of Los Angeles Times biased propaganda, about 25% of Californians own guns. That’s around 9,000,000 people. Nine million. And judging by what can be seen at the range on any given day, most of these people aren’t bitter clingers to their over-unders, 10/22s, Krags, Mausers and Mosin-Nagants.

The statist thugs in Sacramento California legislature like to squeeze all semblance of dignity out of Californians as they rape their Constitutional Rights.

Microstamping. Magazine restrictions. Making modern sporting rifles “registered assault weapons” to be destroyed upon owners’ deaths. Doing same to your Mini14. Your Ruger 10/22. Ammunition surtaxes. Liability insurance. Background checks and permits to buy ammo. And ammo purchase limits. But pedophiles are now “minor-attracted people.”

The activism landscape is varied here in California. Different groups have different opinions, philosophies and strategic goals. The key is to recognize that every group has a role to play. Each has a unique set of assets as well as a skill at which they are particularly good. Thus, Unite the Fight.

Without stepping on anyone’s toes, UtF seeks to inform those gun owners who fall between the cracks or are out of the loop due to non-affiliation and get them Informed, Organized and Mobilized.

Each existing pro-Second Amendment group in this state can benefit from that. Two events were held on Saturday, July 20th: The Northern California event took place at Oroville Wildlife Area Shooting Range. Among those present, Craig DeLuz from Cal FFL and Cal Guns proved to be a font of information and his presence yesterday was greatly appreciated.

The Southern California Event took place at Burro Canyon Shooting Park. Visitors at both events were presented with summaries of the pending legislation and their implications, deadlines for citizen action as well as opportunities for interested gun owners to get involved in the effort. While Unite the Fight was a single nationwide GRAA event, in California, it will be an ongoing campaign.

As for gun owners outside the Golden State, writing this state off as a lost cause or “voting with your feet” makes as much sense as pounding a fifth of Jack each day while suffering fulminant cirrhosis. Or going sunbathing despite the that growing, oozing, black thing on your forehead. Or letting a newly-paroled sex offender move into the bedroom next to your kid’s room.

The urge to disarm is like a cancer. It WILL spread. If you do not live in California, do not write us off. Do not expose your back. Help us. You can donate to a number of organizations such as the Calguns Foundation. You can also support us through the Firearms Policy Coalition. If you are a member of the NRA, GOA, NAGR, SAF or any other national gun rights organization, tell your leadership that they need to send reinforcements to California.

Truth be told, as goes California, so goes the nation.

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141 COMMENTS

  1. Forgot extending the buzzard range lead ban to the entire state in an attempt to effectively make hunting in CA kaput. No sound science or quality low price non-lead hunting ammo available yet…..

    • Non-lead ammo would be illegal, as the existing laws (as written) define it as “armor piercing”. It’s been openly admitted that the two laws together constitute an illegal ban on all ammunition in the state, but the sponsors intend to go through with it anyway.

      • Not quite, as the lead ban would apply to hunting and not say recreational and self defense use, and there are non-lead alternatives that are freely acceptable for rifles at least (handgun might be harder) Don’t get me wrong. I would hate the ban, I actually like handgun hunting. But it is not yet a full ammunition ban, if it passes

    • There have been multiple conservancy groups that have been AGAINST lead ammo bans. One of which is one my uncle belongs to, in Ashe County, NC.

  2. “Darrell Steinberg’s idea of an “assault weapon”. Under SB 374, it would be registered and destroyed upon owner’s death.”

    “Passive” systematic confiscation, as I stated in a comment three posts ago.

    • Sorry, that was a caption Robert copied from the original article. If you go to the link, you’ll see what Steinberg wants to designate as an assault weapon.

      • Basically, SB 374 would classify a semiautomatic, rimfire or centerfire rifle that does not have a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept 10 rounds or fewer as an assault weapon and require registration of the rifle with CA DOJ.

        This bill would also require, on and after July 1, 2014, a Firearm Ownership Record to be submitted to the Department of Justice for every firearm an individual owns, with prescribed exceptions, including firearms purchased from a licensed FFL and documented by a Dealers’ Record of Sale transaction, and assault weapons already registered with the CA DOJ.

        • If SB 374 becomes law in CA, these rifles would all be classified as “assault weapons” and they could no longer be purchased or transferred in California after the law goes into effect.

          Passive systematic confiscation.

  3. The relentless efforts by California politicians, now mainly the Democrats, who have and continue to enact progressively more restrictive anti gun state legislation should be instructive. This is a cancer that can be spread with marketing and messaging by the Democrats and their supportive media buddies. The efforts in the US Senate clearly mirror the initial gun control inroads established in CA. This will continue under the grabbers guidance…forever…at both the federal and state levels.

    I am extremely glad that the current gun control debacle occuring in the CA legislature is being highlighted here on TTAG.

    As the post writer stated, all to often “Truth be told, as goes California, so goes the nation.”

    • Can some legal eagle out there PLEASE explain to me (us) why no state legislation can be passed that infringes upon or denies to the people of their state the First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, Fifth Amendment, etc. rights of The Constitution of the United States of America, but EVERY state apparently has the right to infringe upon and otherwise limit our natural and civil right to keep and bear arms which Second Amendment states “… shall not be infringed.” This issue is very confusing to me.

      • Read the opinion of D.C. v Heller, the most recent SCOTUS case to touch on this. From the opinion:

        “Like most rights, the Second Amendment right is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose: For example, concealed weapons prohibitions have been upheld under the Amendment or state analogues. The Court’s opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.”

        • Legalistic double-talk. Yes, SCOTUS decided that the Second Amendment right s not unlimited. I still have trouble (not being a lawyer) understanding how the very plain English words “…shall not be infringed” do not indicate that this right IS unlimited as far as not being subject in to being in any way modified or limited by any federal or state or local government agency.

          It just seems so obvious and basic to me that as soon as the government can define the limits (claiming that the right is not unlimited) to this right that it is no longer a natural right which cannot (shall not) be infringed. Where am I going wrong his?

          And by the way, SCOTUS has been egregiously wrong in the past. Dredd Scott, anyone?

        • Interesting fact: Many of the cannon used by the continental army during the revolution were loners from private citizens.

      • Please remove the word “no” from your first sentence; it causes you to advocate the opposite of what you intended to say!

        • By the way, I apologize for all the errors in my post above. For some reason my computer at work has a difficult time putting all the letters I type into the words on the post. I was in a hurry and did not proof before posting.

  4. 9 million gun owners. remove and sideline them and you’ve taken a huge bite out of gun rights support. All the french surrender monkeys can say move to a free state. and for how long will that smaller, less populated state remain free with California and Kapo Bloomberg on the lose?

    I do not own an AR or any other EBR. How long will my support and the support of 9 million more like me last if we keep getting no support from the rest of the gun owners in America. This is a united we stand, divided we fall issue.

    • It is abundantly clear that in order to reign in CA and NY, the supreme court is going to have to issue some serious slapping of the wrists. Without the court’s backing, the divide of the “Two Americas” shall continue apace. Two things would greatly improve our RKBA: 1) a strict scrutiny standard of review for anything 2nd amendment related, and 2) a recognition that most rifles (AR-15s, 10/22, etc.) are in common use and off limits to the firearms confiscating Pols. Even then, we will have to keep fighting, but those two things are the key to our cause going forward, from a judiciary perspective.

      • With luck the SCOTUS line up of Justices will not have changed in such a way as to further jeopardize Second Amendment protections by the time a decisive case reaches them.

      • What if the gun grabbers use Californias gun laws as an example in federal courts that holds up as reasonable gun laws? Could court cases break against gun owners in previously free states? california is a large part of the national economy and it’s a national trendsetter thanks to Hollywood.

        There’s already an attack on SYG laws. California has none. How about shall issue. Prior to the 94 AWB, started in California, most states did not have shall issue. How about a successful court case using California as an example that undoes both nationally?

        • I understand fully the potential ramifications of a bad ruling. Hopefully, given the current make-up of the court, I would hope that outright AWB bans and CA/NY-ish passive confiscation schemes get thrown out hard. Barring that, I just don’t see one of the Heller/McDonald 5 retiring during The Great One’s ™ last term. Sure, a justice could pass away, but given the Dem’s super-majority in CA, I just don’t see how we are going to beat them at the legislative level. Hopefully Scalia has taken Kagan hunting enough.

          We have to give them hell and fight as hard as we can, but as was demonstrated in CO, NY, CT, and other captured states, they will do as they please. That’s why I say that in order to truly save CA, we are going to have to get guidance from the Supremes. I don’t like having to rely on that, but I really don’t see what else will do (especially considering that they now consider 10/22s worthy of passive confiscation).

        • “There’s already an attack on SYG laws. California has none. ”

          Perhaps not explicitly by statute, but juries in “Justifiable homicide / self-defense” cases are instructed:

          A defendant is not required to retreat. He or she is entitled to stand his or her ground and defend himself or herself and, if reasonably necessary, to pursue an assailant until the danger of (death/great bodily injury/ ) has passed. This is so even if safety could have been achieved by retreating.

          That instruction seems to be based on CA case law (People v. Hughes 107 Cal. App. 2d 487).

    • What if I think that all of these laws will cause so much social and financial harm to California — and demonstrably, unequivocally so — that I think it will scare the rest of the states and the Feds (and the voters) away from enacting something similar, and then CA will also swing way back in the other direction to correct? It might be horrible in CA for a few years, but maybe everyone would be better off long term. Ehhhh? Possible?

      • No. California passed the first AW ban. The feds copied and followed suit. The federal ban expired. We still have ours (and if Steinberg gets his way, it will get even stricter), and now so do a bunch of east coast states.

    • I want California to fall. There comes a time when you have to flee the government pogroms. Set up a perimeter around the state, get the surrounding state governments to set up anti California trade policies, and let that piece of crap state crash and burn. Let them vote themselves giant pensions, let them set up their state paid housing, and their bankrupt healthcare system. Their system can’t support itself without external help, just like the USSR. Given a decade, Cali will fall. Honestly we probably don’t even have to do anything.

      • …and with luck, by the time this CA crap reaches your neighborhood, you’ll be gone and won’t have to deal with it.

        Now there’s some useful logic.

        • California’s government disgusts me. Are there enough pro-personal freedom people there to out vote the ones voting for control? 25% of Cali are gun owners. Cali has the highest state poverty rate at 23.5%. They will vote for the one signing the checks. Democrats are 43.4% of the population. It doesn’t look mathematically possible to save it. If it can’t be saved, maybe people should start thinking about burning Gotham.

      • California is bigger than Greece. If it falls the dominoe effect is going to be brutal. Unless you’re a cave dwelling hermit with no human connections you’re going to feel the fall.

        It’s a real simple issue. Defeat gun control in California and 2a wins nationwide. Run from the fight in California and you won’t be able to run far enough or fast enough to get away.

        • As a fellow CA resident and gun owner, I will stand behind you JWM. If anyone thinks moving out of the state is helping CA, then you are dead wrong.

        • Oh good. The ol’ “too big to fail” argument. Love it. Can’t wait to pay for more bailouts.

        • Jim, you’ll have to pardon me if I maintain a strong degree of pessimism about your pronouncement.

          Just as with the Central Valley Bullet Train boondoggle, the Democrats are at the controls and it’s full steam ahead on draconian gun restrictions.

        • i agree that leaving ca is not a good solution. but changing current laws or creating new laws is not a permanent solution. hollywood would have to back the pro gun laws. to back the pro gun laws, hollywood would have to stop backing all the issues that most democrats agree on. i don’t think that the cali culture is going to change any time soon.

    • 9 million gun owners could move to say, Kentucky (just an example) and would almost QUADRUPLE the population of the state. It would have a huge jump in the number of Representatives they get in the House, while California would see it’s influence in the House decrease significantly. Or those 9 million gun owners could evenly split among nine borderline states on the issue and ensure that those states become solidly pro-gun.

      • ya, 9 million people are going to leave their friends, family, jobs, houses, great grandparents property, and good weather. leaving is not always an option. sometimes you need to stand your ground.

        • “Stand your ground”.

          Doesn’t mean a thing unless you are fully loaded and ready to fight for the Constitution. We know what the law is, every thing different is just an opinion.

          Keep your powder dry, draw a line in the sand, and don’t redraw it.

  5. I wonder if one of the Unintended Consequences of eventually granting illegal aliens full citizenship will be millions of new gun owners especially in California? Most Mexican men that I’ve met have a traditional masculine demeanor. I suspect many of them take their traditional role of being the family’s provider and protector seriously.

    • I suspect they will feel obligated to the dems in that case. The gop has really dropped the ball on immigration.

    • Except Hispanics make up approximately 8% of gun owners. Will gun ownership increase… probably. But, the rate of gun ownership among Hispanics will more than likely remain the same.

    • I am my families providor but I don`t need a gun to do that. It is fine to have a gun, just as it is equally fine not to have one. Lets not fall into the trap of saying masculine men (I am assuming the only thought you think are “real” men) have to have a gun.

  6. The saying is unfortunately true by virtue of the fact that refugees from California often move to other states and start screwing up their laws.

    The generalization doesn’t apply to all Californians, but it applies to the majority of Californians I have met who moved out of the state.

    They seem to think that the problems they met in California are somehow geographically locked to the political subdivision of California itself, while lacking the self-awareness necessary to conclude that the problems are transported by their hearts to whatever new host they latch onto, and eventually suck dry. It’s analogous to a swarm of locusts moving from field to field, destroying, reproducing exponentially, moving to another field, destroying it as well, and repeating into perpetuity until the whole swarm starves for lack of other people’s property to confiscate.

  7. “Conflator in Chief” – Really? I don`t think it was the current occupant who said “you are either with us or against us” and had that mentality for many policies.

  8. California is a biomedical laboratory that gladly incubates every form of social, mental and physical disease known to humankind, and a few that aren’t.

    I’d like to help Californians disinfect their own house, but frankly I have my hands full right here in the Comintern of Massachusetts. Call me after the Golden State goes bankrupt and we’ll talk.

    • Hyperbole again. Is MA really a communistic state? If so then move and why does it rank highly on measures such as education and quality of life? If hardcore conservative rule, with lower taxes etc is the way to go then why are there not more people in Alabama, Mississippi or South Carolina?

      California is a great laboratory – they have a thriving tech industry. Must be doing something right. And for the record I live in North Carolina, real America according to some.

      • They have a coastline with busy ports. They have super rich companies who aren’t willing to give up their digs in Silicon Valley lest they lose prestige. If a super exclusive fancy high tech developer area started in Colorado and Washington stepped up their Eastern imports game Cali would be just another rust belt style state.

        • “California’s agricultural abundance includes more than 400 commodities. The state produces nearly half of US-grown fruits, nuts and vegetables. Across the nation, US consumers regularly purchase several crops produced solely in California.”

      • Whatever MA is, between the 2000 and 2010 census, they lost enough of their population that they gave up one of their seats in the House of Representatives. People are voting with their feet. It is still strong in education, but kids come, get their education and then get out.

        As to quality of life, could you cite a source, please? According to the 2013 CNBC Quality of Life study, they are not in the top 10 and in CNBC’s Top States for Business, they rank 28 out of 50.

        Hate to break it to you, but MA like some of the other states in the Northeast is in decline. Taxes across the board are up, Cost of living is insane, and as the wealthier people pick up and relocate to friendlier states, the financial burden for MA’s grotesque public welfare system will fall on fewer and fewer shoulders which will accelerate the exodus.

        I lived in MA for more than a decade and a half and am damn glad that I don’t any longer.

        • So it sounds like Ralph DOES have his hands full right there in the “Comintern of Massachusetts”.

      • You’re correct about NC being the real America, but you’re dead wrong about the no good COMMIE SCUM from MA and COMMIEFORNIA.

      • It ranks highly in education and quality of life IN RELATION to other states. Like Mississippi, Arizona, New Mexico… for some unfathomable reason, the fatter a state’s residents are, the worse the educational system.

        Actually, it is fathomable: the worse the education system, the less known about nutrition…

  9. It’s interesting that there are 9 million gun owners in Cali, yet the NRA boasts only 5M members. Even fewer members make up the GOA, NAGR and SAF, and even a smaller number for state run organizations. I think it was Lincoln that said, “Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”

    Don’t get me wrong… I agree that guns owners must unite, but CA gun owners aren’t doing themselves any favors by watching from the sidelines.

    • Most people are not in the NRA, it has a small membership for saying there are allegedly 27% of the population with guns.

      • I’m well aware. My point was that for a state in such crisis, most CA gun owners don’t seem to care enough to take action. It’s hard to help when Californians won’t even help themselves.

        I grew up in CA in the 70’s and 80’s… even worse, I lived in Santa Monica. After college I chose not to go back. That’s what’s great about this country… I can choose to live where I please, in a state that more closely aligns with my beliefs and way of life.

        I am not advocating a pacifist or turn-and-run mentality. But, at some point you have to recognize when to move on. If I were still in CA, I would be looking for the first bus out of town.

  10. The thing to keep in mind is that push back can happen both ways. I think that California is already a lost cause where it comes to gun rights. Too many politicians on the side of gun control – excuse me – gun safety. On the other hand, gun rights folks are ramping things up across the mid west. California may be a large economy, but it is one in ruin. Texas is a pretty strong and large economy too and it seems to be able to balance its budget. Gun rights supporters need to increase those rights in the states where people still believe in freedom.

    The prevailing world view at one time was governed by the domino theory in that if one more government fell to communism, many more would follow like dominoes falling. This gave us our little wars in Korea and Vietnam as well as the shadow wars in Central and South America. Some of these countries did fall to Communism, but there was no domino effect. I believe the same holds true here. Sure, some states will or have slid squarely into the gun control camp, but that does not mean it will sweep the nation. Rather, it is much more likely to stabilize at some point with gun control advocates largely living in states with gun control and gun rights advocates in states with gun freedom.

    • Didn`t California balance its budget this year? About time. Before we declare one state better than another we need to look at more than just if they balance their budgets. How about school results, life expectancy, numbers in poverty or without health insurance.

      • That looked fishy to me. First they had an incredibly large deficit, then they “found” some money and declared a surplus. Did they sell some pot or something? Creative accounting…

        • Governor Brown forced through massive cuts in social welfare spending. It was balances without fancy accounting tricks (a familiar ploy around here) and (shockingly) on time. Brown is pretty fiscally conservative, so the Republicans didn’t create a logjam in the Legislature. Plus the economy improved and there were more revenues.

        • California gets most of its revenue from the rich and business. If the stock market is doing well then so is California’s income….plus Facebook IPO brought in bucks (not as much as expected but still).

      • California balanced its budget. On the way to doing so over several years of effort they’ve lowered the current spending per public school pupil drastically, dragging CA public schools from #1 to ca #49 over a decade. College tuition is going through the roof. If a family sends its children to Chadwick and then Stanford or Pomona College, these facts don’t matter. To the state’s economy they do. Those great tech companies have been sending their growth out of the state for years, to Austin, Portland, Nevada, Utah, even your North Carolina. The same is true of the CA defense industry.

    • “Rather, it is much more likely to stabilize at some point with gun control advocates largely living in states with gun control and gun rights advocates in states with gun freedom.”

      That is, until many of the progs realize their “gun free utopia” is anything but, and will flee rising crime and failing cities to greener, more conservative pastures.

    • Point taken; but America is a fluid society and people move around for myriad reasons; and they take their attitudes with them. When they vote, those attitudes will affect political outcomes where they settle.

      Look at the changes in Colorado.

  11. “We called them ‘statists’, but they might as well be Ba’athist or Chinese Communists (well, at least one of them likely is). In no other state is the need to dial up the vigilance and readiness against unconstitutional repressions than in California. We are facing a double whammy. And that was the plan.”

    That’s it; a statist is a statist is a statist. Some say Obama is a “communist”; I say he is a pawn of the criminal International Bankster Cartel. And communists are just statists with a master plan and $10,000-a-night hotel rooms.

  12. This mentality can only be defeated by the 2/3 State Constitutional Amendment capability.

    That is why it was determined necessary & penned in the Constitution. Using this as an example of system controlability by those standing firm to the original concept of the Constitution, then yes, people should learn the leassons of the slave states then leave to more pro-2A states. They do, however, need to bring with them a new found vigor for defending the rights in the state they find them selves in.

    34 States must be controled by Pro-Constitutional mindsets in order for this to be settled so it really goes away.

    2A Protection Acts are the key, IMO. It puts us on the offensiveand the anti-gunners on the defensive.

    Because twiddling our thumbs and letting goons and oathe breakers have their way has gotten us where so far?

    We can play their game, or we can make them play ours, or by the actual cconstitution and nor some made of “Interpretation ” they wish to have us believe.

  13. im sorry to say commiefornia is a lost cause the only way they can help themselves is one move from the state or vote out the individuals that wish to limit and destroy your rights

    • IF ONLY you knew one iota about those “communists” you keep whining about… but that would actually require political sophistication on your part.

    • I rather suspect that California is run by self-serving politicians with Progressive/Socialist mindsets who are repeatedly voted in by low-information voters who have been bought off with social welfare programs. Calling them communist may be inaccurate, but Progressives may in the long run be just as harmful to the population and economy of the state.

      If you cannot see a viable plan to counter-act this Progressive anti-gun dominated control of the California political apparatus, staying in the state and complaining about it hardly seems logical, nor does trying to gain support from out of state. Twenty five percent of California residents, even if they were united in this as their single political cause, will not change the Progressive control of the state. I think a more comprehensive long-term plan of attack needs to be developed. I voted with my feet as I saw that I was outnumbered.

  14. We definitely do need to stand together. As a Californian, I can tell you that 90% of California (geographically) is comprised of a patriotic, conservative or Libertarian mindset. It’s those “big cities” (Bay Area, Los Angeles) that make us a blue state.

    Please help spread the word….stay informed.

    facebook.com/keepcalmstayarmed

  15. No, voting with your feet does work and it works magnificently if people actually do it. The only people who disagree are those who forget how the House of Representatives works. Every state gets two Senators, but the number of representatives in the House is based on population. By moving from an anti-gun state to a free state, you decrease the population of the anti-gun state and increase the population of the free state. Thus if one million people leave California for a free state, California will lose representatives in the House (who would vote in favor of gun control) and the free state will gain more representatives in the House (who will vote against gun control).

  16. California has the gun laws and politicians that Californians seem to want. Who are we to judge?

    I mean hell if Illinois, as in The place where Chicago lives Illinois. Where Obama came from Illinois. The crookedest place in the U.S. Illinois, just got a CCW law passed then why can’t a State with 9,000,000+ gun owners fight their own battles?

    Californians have made their State what it is, and Californians are the ones that needs to fix it.

    • 9 million gun owners. Population 38 million. 23.7%. Not a majority. ’nuff said.

      AFAIK, Illinois did not fight that battle alone. Correct me if I am wrong.

        • Not the part of your statement I’m commenting on. I’m replying to your inference that CA gun owners should fight their own battles.

          Most of the time I’m pretty sure we are.

        • And you should fight your own fights. I’ll thank you to keep your State out of my State’s business and I’ll show you the same courtesy.

          After all you folks out in California did vote the anti-gunner into office? You don’t like it? Vote them out. Are they passing laws that infringe on your rights? Go beat them in court.

          It’s your State after all.

      • California isn’t the state it was five years ago, let alone 40 years ago. The change in population has been very dramatic. The consequences of this are yet to be known. I think ‘old’ Californians are in for some surprises as the Latino population passes 50%, which is imminent. Who knows but that CA Latinos may decide they want better home protection from the gangster fraction of their own demographic? They increasingly conflict with other particular groups: That, too, will have an effect over time.

  17. Is all of Kalifornia a mental institution or do they just like being screwed all the time?As for the states that have enacted more draconian gun control,none of them will get my tourism dollars,nor will I order any thing from any business in them.i know that there are good business owners,that don’t support the gun control,but they do pay business taxes to the states they do business in,and I for one will not support that state!Be prepared and ready.Keep your powder dry.

  18. Can somebody tell me what kind of gun that is, in the above pic? It’s beautiful…

    10/10 would bang. Eh? Eh? Anybody?

    I’m probably too young for this crowd.

    • Mosin Nagant 91/30. And it certainly has a lot of bang to it. Really gives you a good thumping when you touch it off.

      • I clearly don’t spend enough time shooting my roommate’s, cuz I didn’t recognize it.

        It’s also because I’ve never seen one with a magazine like that. Man, the Mosin’s fun to shoot. My coworker’s selling me his 1924 hex. 😀

        Edit: I see that’s not a magazine, it’s just a stand. I’m blind.

        • FWIW I spent about a minute staring at it, going through the same mental evolution you did.

  19. I support your fight and empathize with your plight in California. However; California is a bizarre political and social anomaly that has attracted for better than 60 years the sorts of liberals and dreamers required to create such a perfect storm. While the urge to ban is a cancer it’s not necessarily metastatic. The absurdity that is the social and political reality of California is as foreign in middle of the road Ohio as it is in deeply conservative Texas. While NYC and to some extent the whole state, or even a Massachusetts is infuriating to many of us, California is a laughing stock. There is almost nothing that California could do along the extremist progressive path that would get more than a ‘and so what else is new’ reaction from the ‘rest’ of us. If I were offered a doubled salary and a free mansion in California I’d say no. If I woke up and found that aliens had dropped me off in California and people there mistook me for royalty and offered me fortunes I’d be out of the state as soon as I could raise enough money for a bus ticket. I’d rather be poor white trash with no access to culture or shopping or anything than a Californian. It might be that California, with it’s disastrous if sometimes entertaining penchant for social and political experimentation will come around on the RKBA, or perhaps more likely that it will be forced by courts to recognize and respect the constitution, but in the mean time each of us has only one life to live and I can think of so many better ways to spend it that trying to convince a gang of low information socialist progressives that they’re wrong on the issues in a given state. The votes, the people, the tax dollars and the donations are more useful in say Colorado where they have a chance than in California. As Monty Python said ‘ . . lets not go there, it’s such a silly place.

    • I recently had occasion to drive into CA for the first time in decades. THEY HAVE CHECKPOINTS AT THE BORDER! And BIG warning signs as you approach. WTF????

  20. “In no other state is the need to dial up the vigilance and readiness against unconstitutional repressions than in California.”

    I’m not sure I understand this sentence. I feel like it’s missing the words “as important as” just before “California.”

    • Typo. Should read:

      “In no other state is the need to dial up the vigilance and readiness against unconstitutional repressions **more urgent** than in California”

  21. It is obviously true that Californians are the ones who voted these politicians into office in California.

    What many who live outside of California do not think about is that the population of CA has exploded in the last 30 years or so. The majority of those new people came from other states and took up residence in the Democrat-majority big cities. They brought their liberal, gun-grabbing ideas with them – from YOUR states.

        • Puma, you must be kidding. Absolutely from Mexico and central America. The state’s own estimates of change in population by ethnicity make that clear. It is true that 50 to 25 years ago there was a rush from the East Coast and Mid-West, but that is long over. Perhaps you mean the Latinos stopped in Missouri first?

    • True, but Cali has on net lost people in recent years. As far as I am concerned, Cali owners ought to consider it a win just if they don’t ban all semiautomatic rifles with detachable magazines period. And a super win if they don’t ban the AR-15. I know someone who seemed knowledgeable some time back in a prior post said that the ban on semiautos wouldn’t pass, that it would be the bullet button ban that would pass, as the two contradict one another, or something like that. I seriously hope that they are correct. Connecticut, Maryland, and New York have outright banned AR-15s but not semiautomatics with detachable box magazines.

      And also, I wouldn’t call the AR-15 a “Modern Sporting Rifle.” That’s a bad term, as it implies that guns are for sport among civilians. Call it what it is, the AR-15, a weapon of war. I have a right to possess the basic tools of war in the event that someone else declares a state of war on me, such as by trying to kill me or my family.

  22. That’s a lovely Mosin; oddly apropos to Калифорния.

    That said, frangible bismuth ammo would be alright for hunting among the condors, and the Assembly knows it.

    It’s a pity that the “liberals” in the state of low-numbered freeways are so damned reactionary.

  23. Keep in mind that California is 1/8th of the nation. Population wise and electorally it has huge sway on the west of the country. If for no other reason, delaying, preventing and hamstringing agenda here is worthwhile for the whole nation. The NRA gets that.

    People are too quick to forget, there has been more of a fight over bad laws here than outsiders realize. Whether it was the vetoing of some of the same bills proposed this year, last year by Brown (which has a libertarian inkling…enough to make him a wildcard), or the passing of an NRA sponsored bill banning confiscation in times of emergency (post-Katrin, unanimous in the Assembly…) or the (albeit minor) improvement of the CCW law last year (they passed a bill attacking double standards in policies), it isn’t a lost cause. Unlike Illinois, New York, New Jersey, CT….I never needed a permit to own a gun, nor a permit to purchase longarms and if the extremely easy HSC (Hand Gun Safety Card) counts as a permit to purchase for handguns, it doesn’t require more than 5 minutes and a number 2 pencil. No having to take classes, qualify, go to the PD or anything like that. An inconvenience, but nothing more. Don’t forget that we had stand your ground before it became a fad in gun friendly states.

    The history of the laws of CA and the political dynamics are quite different than the East coast. Sadly our heritage has greatly eroded, largely due to being the destination of everyone else. But there is still some life blood in the fight, even if we are the underdog. Only a fool cedes ground to the enemy without a fight.

    ETA: If SB 374 passes and is signed (And I highly doubt that, I think it is veto fodder to give cover to SB 47 making it appear to be a compromise measure), there is a chance that it will be struck down. And with it, bye bye any AWB.

        • Oh I agree. If I were certain that it would be struck down…actually certain, I would be for. The precedent and death to any AWB would be worth a couple a years of litigating. IANAL and one could correct me, but as 347 replaces, and does not merely add to the existing AWB, its being struck down would mean no AWB at all?

          But I too would fear it would be upheld. But doubt it will pass. Veto fodder

  24. I’ll believe the nation goes the way of California when the majority of states are bankrupt and nearly totalitarian. In the mean time Cali is the place where unreasonable people go to engage in social and political experiments. It’s like a sand box for lousy ideals that still none the less have real world implications. . . in California, but not for the rest of us.

    From emissions to immigration, from guns to taxation, California is wildly liberal and so far off the radar of middle America that it’s a running joke. Even the states that boarder it are polar opposites of the California culture. Like Vegas, what happens (and fails miserably) in Cali stays in Cali.

    Complaining about liberalism run rampant and repressive gun laws in California is like complaining of the humidity in southern Mississippi or the cold in Alaska in winter. It is the way it is and you know it. Move north or move east or else just adapt to the weather.

  25. I’m sorry, but my back is turned and will stay that way. CA would be a beautiful place if it wasn’t inhabited by humans. but I’m embarrassed to share a border with that shithole.

  26. Hmmmm……I have yet to see if any this is true or just an appeal to fear. I still don’t see a domino effect or even how one state’s laws affect the rest of the nation. Conspiracy theory or a REAL evil plot? I can’t tell. Is it true or is the author being a good little robot owned and used by the gun lobby to sell “assault weapons”? This IS the Interwebz, afterall. As pro-gun as I am, I find the domino effect theory, civil disarmament, etc. to be nothing short of cliché and, therefore, impossible to believe. The facts always change, the plot is too easy, and too much credit is given to the derpiest establishment on planet Earth.

    • Turn off CNN and MSNBC. The “gun lobby” is a liberal boogeyman to get ignorant people to not join the NRA. 5 million NRA members is enough to change an election outcome considering how close many elections are. Liberals are scared of the NRA because of the power the NRA brings to election day with 5 million members. Consider that Obama never touched gun control in his first term. Only AFTER he won reelection did he go after gun control. The “gun lobby” is powerful because of its membership: individual Americans who VOTE. Furthermore, Obama raised ONE BILLION DOLLARS to win his reelection. The money from the “gun lobby” cannot come close to the amount of money liberals raise to push their agenda. The firearms industry is a lot smaller than liberals want you to believe.

  27. I hope it’s not too late to apologize. After some time thinking I realize I am wrong and others are right about two things:

    1. CA is a horrible place to live. I only wish that we could have spread the word 25 years ago so we could have saved so many from moving here. I beg you, do not move here. Especially the area where I live – it’s terrible – you wouldn’t like it.

    2. Gun rights in CA is a lost cause. It’s a relief to come to that reality. Now I can relax because there is no reason to worry about it – there’s nothing to be done. Even better, since this is where I need to live for now, and Federal changes couldn’t possibly make it any worse here, there is no reason to worry about what happens at the Federal level. I can relax about that as well. I can also reallocate that money that I’ve been spending on the NRA, SAF, etc. Maybe buy more ammo, while I can still buy it and use it.

    There. I feel better just admitting it.

  28. Dr. Vino and myself are working together with GRAA, CalGuns, CSSF, NRA-ILA, GOA of California, etc etc.. We are moving forward to make positive changes within California.

    Many say cut and run. Many say we are lost, but the reality is we are on the front lines here folks. If we don’t stand up and take this fight to Sacramento than who will?

    I can not stress how important this fight is. We are not sitting around waiting for the laws to be passed so we can fight them in court. We are becoming political. I know we at TTAG have not always been political, and really staying non political for a gun blog makes sense, but again the reality is that this has been politicized by our POTUS. Therefore we must organize to meet the challenge.

    In California specifically we will be starting campaigns to make our voices heard to individual Assemblymen and Senators within our state. The united alliance will begin taking a very active role to push for leadership change, or at minimum show the politicians in Sacramento that their jobs are on the line when it comes to gun legislation.

    With the recent win of Andy Vidak in a heavily Hispanic, and democratic district we can do this! Social media is alive and thumping with folks. We don’t have a ton of money, or folks wheeling and dealing at the capital, but we do have is people. If you are sitting in on the side lines and not getting involved you have no one to blame but yourself.

    You as a gun owner with skin in the game should know who your local Sheriff is. You should be well aware of the stance your local representatives have on gun legislation. If you don’t know, or know who their challenger will be, then you are not informed enough and not contributing. It is as simple as that.

    You might not have money, or time to schmooze, but if you present to friends, family, the guy in the check out line at your local store, the facts, and push the representatives that we do want, that will help, and it is a good start.

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