A public hearing was scheduled for Friday in Oakland to discuss a proposed state law that would allow Oakland to essentially circumvent California’s existing gun regulations in favor of something one city councilwoman suggested is better suited for violence-plagued Oakland.This is not banning guns, except of course, we all know that if this is allowed to pass, confiscations and bans would inevitably follow.
Oakland City Councilwoman Libby Schaaf, who represents District 4, which includes Oakland’s Allendale, Brookdale, Crestmont, Montclair and Oakmore neighborhoods among others, petitioned Assemblyman Rob Bonta, (D-Oakland), to draft AB 180.
“Under AB 180, the City of Oakland would be given the authority to regulate the registration of firearms and licensing of gun owners—areas which are currently pre-empted by state law. AB 180 is a smart and sensible bill that empowers Oakland and provides local control in addressing gun violence,” said Bonta.
“Cities can’t have their own gun licensing and registration laws, so it’s a great tool for Oakland because we have a unique problem with gun violence,” said Schaaf.
“This is not banning guns,” she added. “This is just having tighter controls on who’s owning and who’s selling them and buying them,” she explained. “This law would allow Oakland to actually create that type of procedure and get guns out of the hands of people who should not have them.”
At least that's what the gun-rights folks keep telling us.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
“Across our state, communities are suffering from a devastating combination of budget cuts to public safety and coinciding increases in violent crime. No one can deny that Oakland is suffering from among the worst gun violence in the state and in the nation,” Bonta said in a written statement."
ReplyDeleteThe state of Californis already has registration of handguns and semiautomatic rifles. How exactly is registering a firearm twice going to make things better? Plus the state already ranks first in the eyes of the Brady Campaign, and have outlawed a class of firearm that hasn't had a documented case of it being used in a crime. And by doing so, resulted in a completely new firearm being developed.
The reason for the preemption law was to insure that citizens could be assured of having one set of rules and not become criminals by passing through the wrong part of town, which apparently Oakland is.
California is already among the lowest of the low, but now a city in that wretched state is trying to pass their own version of the fugitive slave act. The nation is dividing between slave and free. Fortunately, this time, the rest of us aren't having to accept the foolish laws of others.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, this is a rewrite of the additional ammo tax bill. I guess it wasn't gaining enough traction even in california (surprisingly enough). Which would you rather have? This one gets to throw people in jail for not double registering their guns- but only in Oakland, whereas the former was going to squeeze all shooting sports and use that money to further more gun control (tackling the bigger cultural issues). Of course the new one sets a precidant that pre-emption can be worked around. Hmm... this must be a tough call for you.
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