Another gun ban bites the dust
You regular readers of The B2 Journal may remember back in November 2005, when B2 mentioned the municipal gun ban passed by San Francisco's ruling socialists. Just prior to the ban, Americans learned from the tragic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that there are times when the government is simply unable to protect its citizens ... at least some Americans learned that fact.
We saw the looting of nonessential items, robberies, carjackings, murders, and rapes that overtook New Orleans as chaos gripped the city -- and demonstrated what can happen when the government loses control.
Apparently others took note as well because this past January, the California State Court of Appeals overturned one of the most restrictive gun bans in the country, following a legal battle by attorneys for the National Rifle Association (NRA) and a previous court order against the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Good news, but there was more.
Last month, the California State Supreme Court ruled that Proposition H, the Draconian gun ban proposed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors violates California law. This exhausts all possible avenues for appeal by the Board of Supervisors.
Proposition H was a foolish scheme that would have disarmed only the law-abiding in San Francisco, so how did the Board of Supervisors get so far before common sense prevailed?
Because residents were duped into allowing them to trample on constitutional rights.
Fraud and deceit
Supervisor Chris Daly, the 29-year-old chief sponsor of the ban, claimed the reason he proposed the gun ban for San Francisco was because of the city's escalating murder and violent crime rates. However, although San Francisco's murder rate did jump by 24 percent -- from 71 homicides in 2003 to 88 in 2004 -- it certainly did not mean that the Right to Keep and Bear Arms was the problem, or that disarming lawful citizens was the solution.
According to Chuck Michel, an attorney for the California Rifle and Pistol Association (CRPA), San Francisco already has more local gun-control ordinances than any other city in the state of California:
In 2000, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a law that holds gun manufacturers, importers, and retailers financially liable for "all direct and consequential damages" of gun-related deaths or injuries, whether or not the firearms were defective and whether or not the manufacturers, importers, or dealers were negligent.
Even though no gang-banger ever carried a four-foot-long, 30-pound, $7,000 rifle on the street, the city banned ownership of .50 caliber rifles, solving another non-problem with another non solution.
They banned so-called "Saturday Night Specials," their focus group-tested demon term for affordable handguns.
They banned so-called "ultra compact handguns" whose only offending characteristic is being less than about 6 3/4 inches long, or 4 1/2 inches high.
Every firearm transfer, even between friends, must go through a California licensed and federally-licensed dealer. Every firearm purchased -- handgun or long gun -- requires a waiting period of 10 days. Every hand-gun purchaser is registered with the California Department of Justice.
The list goes on, and just last April, San Francisco Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval pushed a ban on gun shows, arguing that the mere presence of a gun show is "insulting" to San Franciscans, and that "banning gun shows would send a profound message of respect to the nearby citizens."
Say what?
Wayne LaPierre, speaking for the NRA, asked "Does it really show more 'respect' for San Francisco citizens to give them empty sentiment instead of real safety? What good is it to pass laws against honest, law-abiding people when the laws against violent, armed, dangerous people aren't enforced?"
The ban is dead
The San Francisco Police Officers Association issued a statement that also opposed the ban, stating that the new law nullified "the personal choice of city residents to lawfully possess a handgun for self-defense purposes."
Chris W. Cox, NRA chief lobbyist, stated, "We are pleased with the Supreme Court ruling. The NRA filed our lawsuit after Proposition H passed arguing that the proposition was in violation of California preemption laws that clearly assert that firearm laws are regulated by the state and not local municipalities. Our belief that the authors of this measure authored this proposed measure with gross disregard of California law has been confirmed by the Supreme Court. Regrettably, San Francisco taxpayers had to bear the considerable financial burden to satisfy the careless political whim of their elected officials."
For now, sanity has returned to the City by the Bay ... but for how long?