I thought California had strict gun control and red flag laws. How did the San Diego shooting happen? Why didn't the laws preven
California does have some of the strictest gun laws in the nation and red flag laws. The San Diego Synagogue shooting provides even more evidence that gun control laws fail because criminals do not follow laws, only the law abiding citizens follow the laws. CA has also reached a tipping point of so many gun laws that even the law abiding gun owners are getting frustrated at the costs and nearly impossible task to follow the CA gun laws that they are starting to ignore them. The criminals are breaking them all the time and our legal system is so overwhelmed and underfunded that most are subject to catch and released. They are arrested, cited and told to appear in court, and released. They do not appear and are rearrested, cited for failure to appear, re-rereleased, and the cycle repeated. Our politicians to make life fair for the poor and downtrodden have eliminated bail for all but those accused of the most violent crimes. Many gun crimes are now misdemeanors, such as a felon in possession so they are told bad boy, the gun is taken away, hand is slapped and they are released with a few more months of probation added to their sentence. There are too many felons on probation and too few probation officers so the felons are not monitored. They do whatever they want.Us law abiding citizens though will jammed up by the legal system if we dare use a gun to protect our families from a home invasion robbery. If we shoot the home invader and they happen to make it outside and bleed out, we can be in trouble because we obviously did not need to shoot them. We should have escaped and let them have whatever they wanted.The Poway shooter was 19. In CA, one needs to be 21 to buy any firearm. There is an exception for long guns (rifles and shotguns). For those that are between 18 and 21, if they have a hunting license and a firearms safety certificate, they can legally purchase a long gun. They still have to go through the background check and 10 day wait. The other exception that was not mentioned in the news stories is a parent or grandparent can gift a firearm, hand gun or long gun to an adult child or grand child that is 18 or older using the intrafamilial transfer process. They hand the firearm to the person. The person needs to have a firearm safety certificate. They fill out the Operation of Law form and write a check for $19 and send it in to the CA DOJ. It can also be done online. The DOJ will run the background check. This process will often take up to a year but once the form is filled out and sent in, the gun is legally transferred. If the person fails the background check, the DOJ will contact the person either by mail or by sending an officer to the address to inform them they need to transfer the gun back to the previous owner or turn the gun over to the police. They will run the background check on the previous owner to make sure that person can still legally possess firearms. If not, the police will be sent to confiscate the firearm.The CA DOJ often fails to do that background check and when they do, if the person is found to be prohibited often fails to follow through to inform the person or to collect the firearm. So the state does not enforce its own laws. When they do send their gun confiscation teams out, they do not target the dangerous criminals whom they know possess guns illegally. They do not want to get into a standoff or shootout. They go after the people who have minor issues and are likely on the list due to an error. These are the people who are not a danger to anybody and do not realize they are on the prohibited list. Once they discover they are, the situation can be cleared up by hiring an attorney and filling the correct paperwork or straightening out the records that are incomplete. The DOJ of course destroys the guns before the process is completed and will not replace them. They issue an apology and say we made a mistake, sorry. They are quick to add these people to their statistics of another dangerous armed prohibited person disarmed and guns removed from the street. For the DOJ, every gun is evil, unless it is a gun they are carrying to intimidate the law abiding.CA has the most convoluted AW laws. It takes an expert to determine when an AW is not an AW. A bullet button used to make a magazine a fixed magazine. That is no longer true. The new devices to make a magazine fixed requires opening the action to change a magazine actually makes magazine changes faster and easier. Some devices allows one to use stripper clips to reload which allow even faster reloads and use technology that is well over 100 years old. I have a magazine loader that can load magazines in a second. It uses the same principle as stripper clips. It picks up the ammo from the ammo box and then loads it into the magazine in one smooth step. I can load 10 rounds onto the mag loader and into the magazine in a total of 2 seconds.One of the drills I do when I shoot my hand guns is to take a 50 round box of ammo and load 5 magazine and then shoot all 50 rounds as quickly and accurately as I can into my target at 15 yards. I do this in 90 seconds or less. It has taken a lot of training to get good at it. In CA, with 10 round magazine limits, in a home invasion robbery situation, one needs to be able to change mags quickly because when it is 1 against 4, and the criminals are using the large capacity magazines because they do not follow the laws that you are forced to, you are at a disadvantage. You have to change mags quickly and stay in the gun fight and make every shot count. The criminals just drive to NV or AZ and buy the large capacity magazines and drive them back. It is a felony to do so, but with a few million cars driving into CA daily, who is going to search them? They could not be searched anyway without getting warrants which would require evidence that a crime had been committed.Back to the Poway’s shooter’s gun, I saw a quick picture of it and it looked like it was a home built gun. It had an aluminum anodized receiver that is characteristic of the 80% receivers one can purchase without a background check. They do not qualify as a firearm because they are not completed enough to meet the definition of a firearm according to the regulations set forth by the ATF. One can purchase a jig and use a router or a drill press and finish the milling work on the receiver to make it a functioning lower receiver. Then the other parts can be purchased without a background check because they are just parts and not the part that is considered the firearm itself. The Internet is filled with how-to tutorials and videos. The AR15 is one of the easiest firearms to build. The AK47 is another easy one to build and one only needs to start with a flat piece of metal and have a way to bend it. For fun, Google the shovel AK47. A shovel can be used to build an AK47. The AK47 was intentionally designed to be easy to build with simple tools.I have seen proposals by some Democrats to ban the sales of 80% receivers. It is laughable because I have watched people build AR15 receivers out of a block of aluminum. You can buy % receivers that are nothing but a block of aluminum and use the same jig to have the satisfaction to build your gun from scratch.I have build a few 10/22s, a .22 caliber rifle based on the famous Ruger 10/22. They are almost as easy as building an AR15. In CA, rimfire rifles are not subject to AW laws so I built mine to have all the so-called evil features. It looks scary but it still shoots the underpowered .22 LR cartridge, the same as the not scary, traditional looking .22 rifle.The DA handling the Poway shooter case stated that the shooter purchased the rifle legally the day before the shooting. That does not add up. The news reports I read speculate he purchased the rifle in NV or AZ. That is wrong, that would be a violation of Federal law. One must purchase a gun according to the laws of the state they are a resident of and CA requires all gun purchases to go through a CA FFL. So if he purchased it in NV or AZ, he could not take possession there, it would have to be shipped to a CA FFL where he would have to go through the CA process, the CA background check, the 10 wait, before he could pick it up. It would also have to be CA legal.The gun I saw had a pistol grip and that would only be legal if it had a break action to remove the magazine. I did not see that, but they are not always easy to spot.CA AW laws are so complicated that most DAs and LEO do not understand them and often the guns have to be sent to the CA DOJ to be inspected to determine if they are an AW or not. Even the DOJ has problems interpreting the law because they are not clearly written. The people who write the laws do not understand guns and so write laws that are very confusing. They do not use proper gun terminology. For example, the laws only take into account bolt action and semi-automatic, they do not consider lever action guns so those are in a legal limbo. This is especially troublesome when it comes to handguns. The Henry Mare’s leg is a lever action pistol but the handgun laws in CA only consider semiautomatic handguns or revolvers. Handguns have to be placed in one of those categories. The lawmakers did not realize there was a third category so everybody kind of ignores it and are glad they are not popular. The state hopes nobody sues over it because it will take a lot of word twisting to force it into one or the other category and either choice will create further legal problems for the state.The news has asked several times about large capacity magazines. Well, the shooter had 5 magazines and a total of 50 unused rounds in the magazines in his vest. He had the legal 10 round magazines on him. He also only shot 8 to 10 rounds before the gun jammed. So he likely only had a 10 round magazine in the gun.Even if he had greater than 10 round magazines with him, they are now legal to own. A federal appeals court ruling in Duncan v. Beccera recently ruled the large capacity magazine ban in CA is unconstitutional. For a week, it was legal to purchase large capacity magazines. (Us gun people call them standard capacity magazines because these are the standard size magazines that are sold with the guns in free states). The AG asked for a preliminary injunction because he is appealing the case to the 9th Circuit Court. Judge Benitez granted it with the additional rolling that those who purchased the large capacity magazines or obtained them through any means would continue to legally possess and use them until this case plays out in the court system. There is an expectation this case will go all the way to SCOTUS. It was a well written decision and it will be difficult for the 9th to overturn and if they do, SCOTUS can easily overrule the 9th because Judge Benitez wrote the ruling for them to use. He basically said criminals do not follow the law and the law abiding have been injured and killed being forced to use limited capacity magazines in real life self-defense situations against criminals who use large capacity magazines and gave some good examples. At this point, large capacity magazines are legal in CA. The state would have to prove they were imported into the state after April 5, 2024 and that is nearly impossible to do.They other law the shooter may have violated is how he obtained his ammo. Starting 7/1/19, all people buying ammo will be required to pass a background check. Since 7/1/18, all ammo has had to be kept locked up and an employee who has passed a background check and is 21 or older has to get the ammo and ring it up. The purchaser has to be 21 or older. A parent or grandparent can purchase for a child or grandchild. Those that are 18 to 21 can purchase rifle or shotgun ammo if they have a hunting license and firearm safety certificate.It is an infraction to import ammo from out of state. Guess what is the most violated gun law now? The gun people I know are buying ammo out of state and bringing it back because they are sick and tired of the ever more stupid gun laws. Criminals are doing it all the time. The state is treating gun owners like criminals so we might as well act like criminals.An infraction is the same as a speeding ticket. In order to cite one, an officer must witness the person buying the ammo out of state and then follow the person back to CA without losing sight of them. Then they have to pull them over inside of CA to ticket them. If I go to Reno for the weekend and buy ammo on Saturday and return on Sunday, no highway patrol officer is going to follow me to my hotel, spend the night monitoring me and then follow me into CA the next day.There are exceptions. If my wife gifts me ammo, I am exempt from the importation restriction. So, I go to Reno, she buys the ammo and gives it to me, then I can legally bring it back. Like a said, our politicians are too stupid to right good laws.There is another exemption for those that have a FFL03 and a COE. The FFL03 is a federal license for collectors of guns 50 years or older. I have that. A COE is a CA certificate of Eligibility, a pre-background check that is done once a year. I have that. I can now legally import all the ammo I want from out of state. I do not have to carry these documents with me when I do. Do you think a CHP officer will take the time to cite me, go to court to have me show up with my documents so I have the case dismissed, and waste his time and all over a $50 fine. There are not enough officers to keep people from doing 15 mph over the speed limit. That is the point where they take the time to pull people over to ticket.The ammo buying law is a feel good law designed to stop people from buying ammo in CA. It makes the process so difficult people just give up gun ownership in the state. The rest of us gun people just say screw it and buy out of state. We have decided to starve the beast and not pay the sales tax on our ammo to CA since they do not want us to own guns.Others are turning to reloading since reloading supplies do not require a background check and they can still be purchased online.Finally, someone did call the FBI to inform them of some troubling social media posts the shooter had made, including one where he stated he was going to shoot up a synagogue and kill some Jews to get revenge for what they did to Jesus. It happened less than 5 minutes before he shot up the synagogue. That red flag law really worked. There was about 10 minutes between that post and the start of his shooting spree. Maybe we need a law requiring everyone to post their intentions on social media 48 hours in advance of their actually taking any action. We can call it a cooling off period.Notice also that as soon as he started shooting what stopped him? In this case two good guys with guns. One was a war vet with a CCW from another state but was illegally carrying in the Synagogue because CA does not recognize CCW permits from other states. Notice that no legal action was taken against him. CA does have a law that shields one from prosecution if they use an illegally possessed gun for legal self-defense. The police and DA will not openly mention that, they do not want that to be out and spread by the media.The other was a border patrol agent who heard the gunfire and came running.Neither did fire their weapons because innocent people were in the line of fire. They did distract the shooter and threw him off of his game. That distraction did get him to stop shooting and may have played a factor in his gun jamming or his inability to clear the jam. Clearing a jam is simple for those who are familiar with guns. He might not have been familiar with guns. I can clear a jam in a couple of seconds for my guns. It is because I practice and regularly do drills to practice this.If the person is no longer shooting, there is no need to shoot at him and put the lives of innocent people at risk. They were able to chase him down to his car and almost captured him there. He did drive off but law enforcement captured him shortly after that.The main reason no law stopped him was he was like many spree or mass shooters. He was not a prior felon. His social media presence was hidden from those who knew him best in real life. His family did not have a clue. They have practically disowned him because this is not how they raised him. My guess is they will not any part of the trial. He is dead to his parents.I would not be surprised if we eventually learned he obtained his gun through a means that did not require a background check. I have a few guns that did not require a background check to legally obtain. Of course they were obtained years ago before background checks were a thing. In many states it is still legal to buy guns from private parties without background checks and many of these states have much lower crime rates than CA. UBC do not lower gun crime rates by themselves. They just keep the law abiding people honest. The criminals still get guns without background checks. If I wanted a gun that was not registered with the state I would either build one or buy one on the black market. Black market guns are cheaper than legal guns. As a teacher, all I need to do is ask an administrator who the drug dealer on campus is. Then go to that student and offer $200 to get me a gun. That is $100 more than required. That extra $100 is to buy silence and to have the gun delivered to me by one of my students that also works for him. It will come to me in a backpack that will be dropped off at my desk with no questions asked.In return though, I will have to overlook drug dealing in my room. That I cannot do so ultimately I will not buy from a drug dealer, the cost to me as a law abiding citizen is too high. This is to illustrate how easy it is. Personally, if I were to ever do something illegal, I would go the DIY route. A secret is only safe if only one person knows it. Once you tell another, you can be sure they will tell others and the secret will not be kept.As a teacher at an urban high school, I can say that we find at least one gun a week on a student. They were all illegally obtained as all these students are under 18. They were possessed in a gun free school zone. Every student could be charged as an adult for violating the gun free school zone. They are not. They are not even disciplined. Image is important to the gun is confiscated and the student sent back to class. The gun is dumped in the dumpster late that evening. If it were reported as required by law, the school would be labelled as a dangerous school and then loose state money. The district would have to bus students to other schools if parents requested it. We cannot get that unsafe school label so it is easier to throw away the gun and pretend it never happened. More evidence strict gun laws do not work. They just make politicians feel good because they did something even if it was meaningless. They can use it to get re-elected which is the only reason they do anything to begin with.Finally, do not buy into the hype about the AR15 being a deadly AW. I own a piece of history, a M1 Garand that was used to storm the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. Rather than shooting a .22 on steroids it shoots a devastating .30 caliber round that can also kill any large North American land predator (think Grizzly or Polar Bear). In many states, the AR15 is not legal to take deer with. It is not the killing machine the news media makes it out to be. The M1 Garand fits that description much better.It does not have a pistol grip stock so it is not classified as an AW. I do own a version that shoots a .308 and uses a 20 round magazine. It is not considered an AW but I can fire it with much more deadly affect that an AR15. I grew up shooting rifles that were made of wood and steel and had significant recoil so it does not bother me. Many prefer the AR15 because it has a very light recoil and it is very light weight. I have seen young children fire it easily and maintain good control of the firearm. It has many advantages. It is not a high caliber killing machine the media makes it out to be.
