Continuing the theme of the Left Coast struggle for gun rights, it seems our friends at KTVU decided to head on over to the Crossroads Gun show at the Cow Palace in Daly City recently. Apparently they came to the conclusion there was a lot of mischief going on in the great cow hall. They found a guy with a backpack trying to sell a gun to anyone who would listen. Given that all gun sales in California are supposed to be handled through an FFL – even private party transactions – yes, he would be breaking the law if he’d unloaded his gun. But just in the nick of time . . .
a polite FFL dealer explained the error of his ways to the young man possibly saving him a trip to the hoosegow. To that end all private party sales are done through an FFL with a background check. The only upside to a private purchase is you may purchase more then one hand gun at a time or more in 30 days.
Beyond that, none of the KTVU crew really saw any shady goings on at the gun show. In fact the managers of the Crossroads gun show said that doing something illegal there probably isn’t the smartest thing in the world. Many of the FFL dealers are retired LEO’s. Show management is also walking the floor looking for anything that might be illegal. The last thing the show organizers want is to be accused of being a hotbed for illegal activity.
The worst thing the news crew could dig up was a few dealers selling parts kits for AR or AK mags. These are essentially complete magazines in pieces. They’re designed to repair either 10- or 30-round magazines. If you assemble all the parts, you actually get a working magazine, and while the parts aren’t illegal, assembling a 30 round magazine in California is.
Of course there are plenty of folks with 30-round magazines who acquired them pre-ban. My take on the situation is it’s a don’t ask, don’t tell situation. If you have private land you are shooting on, then 30-round mags are normal. Just don’t take them with a bullet button-equipped gun to a range, or competition. Then again there are plenty of nice folks who are willing to lend you their 30 round mags during competitions so either way you should be fine.
So why did the news crew come to the conclusion that there were illegal activities regarding firearm sales in California, despite stringent gun laws? Got me. In fact, no crimes were committed in front of them and they couldn’t pinpoint any wrongdoing in the parking lot or anywhere else.
I’m not saying there isn’t a black market for firearms within California. We know there is, just like anywhere else in the nation. The reporter’s opening argument is correct, but from that point there’s no there there. Lacking any real proof (or a story, for that matter), the reporter somehow forgot to attach his name to the Pulitzer prize candidate piece of “journalism.”
It’s not difficult to figure out gun laws aren’t working. Just like in DC or Chicago, we are faced with illegal use of guns and the violence that accompanies it. We also understand that criminals don’t care about laws and will get guns (or knives, or whatever) through the black market. So really, what we should be asking is how are we going to stop the illegal sale of firearms to criminals? That, my friends, is a difficult task to say the least.
Why are the Mainstream media outlets so opposed to the 2nd Amendment?
Because they’re all liberal/hippie crusaders looking to “save” the unwashed masses with their “truth”. Irregardless of the cost.
I think it’s more about disarming the sheep. The whole “liberal
” media concept is a ruse. In the end the media is owned by a select few companies, with maybe a total of a couple hundred people on their boards, combined. To control the media, and corporations as such, one would be better off disarming the citizens as a means to reduce collateral damage in the case of an uprising. For example, when the people find out you rigged wall street, or when corporations pretend like they didn’t know that water table was used by millions of people in the surrounding metropolitan area, resulting in sterility, and other various chromosomal defects. When the media and corporate elite control every aspect of our lives, that’s when we have completely lost, and sadly, it’s headed that way, if it isn’t already here.
It’s controversy and they feed on controversy. Strict gun control leads to violence and misery, and mainstream news feed on violence and misery. An unarmed people is a fearful, dependent people and mainstream media feeds on fear.
Their owners are control-freaks. They want our money AND our freedoms. To get our money, they’ll sensationalize any tragedy. To get our freedom, they’ll blame the things that can help us keep our freedom in such a way a sheep would believe it was fact rather than fiction.
Because they are Marxist to the core and don’t want any competition or trouble when they finally seize power for good.
It can truly be said to be a slow news day when folks selling guns in accordance with all of the PRK’s laws is what makes the news.
“The only upside to a private purchase is you may purchase more then one hand gun at a time or more in 30 days.”
Personally, I prefer to sell and buy my guns through an FFL just to establish a more secure paper trail with a dealer should I gun I sell later be used in a crime and to make sure that a gun I buy was not known previously to be used in a crime since they check serial numbers. Yes, I know that if I keep records with a private citizen I might buy/sell guns with will probably keep me from ever possibly getting blamed for a later problem. The real drawback which I recognize is the concern about a digital or actual paper trail for the Storm Troopers leading to me if there is a Confiscation Day.
The real drawback which I recognize is the concern about a digital or actual paper trail for the Storm Troopers leading to me if there is a Confiscation Day….
Confiscation Day – Like we would let that happen.
I agree with you. That’s why I think it’s a good idea for gun owners to have at least one gun which was bought without paperwork.
If you have a CCW, they’ll know you have guns, but they don’t have to know every gun you have….
Forcing citizens to employ an FFL to sell their own privately owned property seems a bit excessive.
It is always better to go through an FFL. Yes it keeps a record of the transaction, so a list is somewhere with somebody, but in the end if it keeps you getting SWAT’D in the middle of the night with a no knock entry then it is worth it.
I would hate to think if the local LEOs busted down my front door in the middle of the night, not announcing themselves with kids in the house. It could turn ugly real quick. Not saying I don’t respect our Police force, but if I hear a commotion, and out of a groggy deep sleep, the first thing I am going to do is grab a weapon. Not knowing who is running through the house if they aren’t screaming police at the top of their lungs, would not be good for anyone.
This is why a stiff knock at the door and using their PA system if needed is probably a wiser choice.
Well, most of us here I think prefer freedom and a country we used to have, where that existed.
Did the news crew visit the local street corner where drugs, guns and stolen property are transferred without any background checks?
Didn’t think so.
Something tells me that they wouldn’t see anything there either.
They’re afraid to check out the drug dealers because they’re unarmed as opposed to a gun show where they’re perfectly safe.
Well, if you want to know how to fix the problem… it is much simpler than you think. Gun Control, Free Health Care, Rising cost of food, Out of control medical system… all of it can be fix by default by using the Liberal Philosophy that they use for Nationalizing Healthcare.
Here is how it works: If Health care is a “Right” and therefore should be free (with salary caps on Doctors and Hospitals), then why not use the same idea with the 5th Amendment??? Because the 5th Amendment gives us the Right to our day in court and the Right to have an attorney…. Then why not Nationalize the court system and put salary caps on Judges and Lawyers????
Seems to me if you started to put some constraints on the Judges and Lawyers it would fix all the other issues (Healthcare, Gun Control, etc) by default.
Just a thought!!!!
You point out an interesting double standard.
When I brought that up to some Criminal Attorneys, they immediately torted with, “Well, Mr. Harkness. When you find yourself in front of a Judge, fighting for your life, would you not want the best defense you can find?”
To which I replied: “Well, dumbass, if you find yourself on a gurney in an Emergency Room, would you not want the best medical care you can find?”
I think, at that point, he went off on some rant about Homophobic, Paranoid, Sexist, Bigot… and what ever else his manual from Saul Alinsky had for him.
To which I replied: “Well, dumbass, if you find yourself on a gurney in an Emergency Room, would you not want the best medical care you can find?”
That’s contradicting your argument for government control of lawyers.
@Totenglocke,
It may very well just do that. BUT at the same time it points out the fallacies and double-standards.
IF the lawyer was opposed to a income cap for ALL lawyers on the grounds that it would be detrimental to those who want the best service out of a lawyer. (In which a lawyer who was only interested in how much he was going to be paid made a difference in how much he was willing to work for the client, is NOT a lawyer I’d want, lest he decide my best ability to pay not worth helping me as much as he was capable of.
Here’s one solution: stop trying to control everything. The desire for control of others who are not harming anyone (but maybe themselves) is a sick, perverse thing.
Five years ago, I was with another person driving back from that same Cow Palace Gun Show. We were caught up in some slow traffic in San Francisco’s Mission District known for having its share of crime and crazies. Suddenly there was a commotion in front of us with the drivers of two cars apparently playing chicken with each other. Brakes were slammed on and the two women drivers, who apparently knew each other and had some personal issues, got out screamed and shoved each other back and forth. My friend and I sat there stuck in the car right behind them bitterly commenting that because of state and city anti-gun laws that we two law abiding citizens were forced by law to keep our guns and ammo secured and unloaded in the trunk. We had no idea what was going to happen next. Eventually the two women got back into their cars and drove off.
That’s why liberals are afraid of firearms; because THEY can’t be trusted with them and don’t understand the concept that adults are supposed to exercise self-control.
couple of other points about that gun show. not only are retired leo’sw among the vendors there are always a couple of unretired leo working the door. bad place to ignore the laws. as for having a gun off the books, it’s a felony to have an unregistered handgun in ca. is it worth the risk to you? i have a lot to lose and i’m a bit old to being jail bound for the first time. as for a paper trail, in the age of computers and the patriot act, do you really think the government doesn’t already know who we are. they’re simply too many of us spread to far for any sort of gun grab to be workable. nola was a local event and i bet they didn’t get all the guns even then.
It was a slow news day, so they went fishing. If they’d found something, they’d have had fodder for the next couple newscasts, anyway.
The Bay Area press is famously hoplophobic. It was SF News Channel 5 that started the whole bullet button frenzy. It was so horrible that evil black rifles with detachable mags should make their way back into california that they just had to put it on the news and bring in to Senator Yee’s attention so that SOMETHING COULD BE DONE! I am sure these stations were SHOCKED! SHOCKED I tell you, that Alameda County wouyld finally cave in front of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and agree that gun shows were (now) lawful under their local ordinance–after twelve years of litigation and several trips to the Court of Appeals. (Nordyke.) So now they have to show how really evil gun shows are and all the evil guns being sold illegally and and and THEY SHOULD BE BANNED!