Just One More Itty, Bitty Gun Law

The California Senate, in a vote of 22-18 passed a “microstamping” bill that will require gun manufacturers to make guns that will leave a recognizable “stamp” on the spent cartridge of every semi-automatic handgun in that state.

Aside from the fact that this bill is a waste of taxpayer’s time and money, it is just one more itty, bitty step toward the ultimate goal of eliminating the 2nd Amendment from the U.S. Constitution.

This is a pretty complex issue but critics have already spoken out against the idea because of the many faults this will bring, one of them being the relative ease at which this so-called “microstamp” can be altered. This is only one aspect of what will more than likely create an investigative nightmare for law enforcement.

It is unrealistic to think that each person that wants to purchase a “microstamped” semi-automatic handgun, will keep it “until death do them part”. Guns will be sold, traded, lost and stolen. Imagine for a moment if you can the nightmare facing law enforcement to track a gun. This may actually make the job of the police more difficult and that much harder to convict the criminals, which advocates of the bill say will help to do the opposite.

The argument that gets debated often enough is the one about getting the guns out of the hands of criminals. Most 2nd Amendment supporters agree that law enforcement needs to do a better job of this. The argument comes in how to achieve it. This bill is one way anti-gun groups think it can be done. I believe they really want to just take away gun rights instead of attacking the problem – the criminals and liberal courts.
Let’s dabble for a second in the obvious and hidden costs associated with such a bill. The obvious expense is going to first be laid on the gun manufacturers. Making a gun that has the ability to “microstamp” each shell casing won’t come cheap. This cost will be passed on to the consumer. The costs may be such that gun makers will pull up shop and go to another state, leaving some jobless.

There are hidden costs that will in time come back onto the consumer. Recycling of the brass is one aspect. Many shooters reload their own ammo. If a shooter reloads his own bullets, how many times if at all will this be able to be done before a stamp becomes useless? What if someone mistakenly or intentionally takes your spent cartridge and reloads it? What if it is used in a crime? What if it is planted at a crime scene? In short, all spent cartridges would need to be destoyed – well, that is if you want to protect your butt. Imagine the cost associated with this.

The cost of training of law enforcement will drive tax dollars up. Taxpayers will have to continue digging deeper and deeper and for what? What will a bill like this really do? Nobody knows but it sure will make us “feel real good” about things.

How does this directly effect the rights of citizens to keep and bear arms? Cost! Cost! Cost! I would be willing to wager that 99% if not 100% of those politicians and anti-gun group leaders that create and support such anti-gun bills, would have no difficulty paying an extra 10, 20, 50, 100 or even 200 dollars for one semi-automatic handgun. Where does this leave the poor people? Where does this leave the fixed income folks? Where does this leave millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet? They are being forced from their ability to defend themselves. Because of the rising costs of gun manufacturing and the laws being passed that strictly regulate gun manufacturing, many are being priced right out of the right to bear arms. I think this is exactly what the anti-gun advocates want.

Just one more itty, bitty gun law. That’s all. Who’s it going to hurt? Are we going to create as many criminals as we can now nab because now someone has to go steal someone else’s gun so they can defend themselves? Does anyone really think these bills through before they put them up for a vote?

And what about the criminal? Will the criminal care? No! There is one thing that if you haven’t learned it yet chances are you aren’t smart enough to learn it. If you make a gun that will “microstamp” a shell casing, a crook will figure out how to beat it. Every device used by law enforcement to catch a crook, the crook figures out how to beat it or get around it. Do you really think a murderer, robbery, gang thug, or whomever is going to go into combat using a gun that can “microstamp”? For next to nothing, I’m sure I could jury rig up a catch bucket that would catch all my spent shells so I wouldn’t leave them on the street.

With any hope at all, this bill will waddle its way into the House in California and die a peaceful death. If not perhaps “Ahnoawd” will veto it. I’m not holding my breath. This is California, the land of….. well, you fill in the blank.

Tom Remington