Gun show owner “fires back”
Followers of California politics over the years have watched the continued and persistent attempts of the Democratic majority in the California Legislature to erode and restrict the Second Amendment Rights of California citizens. State Senator Mark Leno has been pushing, again, for new legislation to ban gun shows at the Cow Palace in Daly City (one of the few remaining Bay Area locations where such shows have not ALREADY been banned) after similar legislation that he introduced in 2008 was defeated. (Yes, anti-Second Amendment bills keep returning zombie-like in the same California Legislature that can’t seem to do its job with regard to mundane budgetary matters. Such numerous and repeated efforts divert a lot of energy from the resolution of important financial matters in California.) Leno has claimed that guns sold at the show find their way to gangs in the neighborhood.
The owner of the Crossroads of the West Gun Show, Bob Templeton, said that a formal investigation by Daly City police found that NONE of the weapons sold at the show were making their way onto the streets. Undercover officers will be in the parking lot of the show this year to make sure that firearms DO NOT!
Templeton says that he is expecting as many as 6000 people to attend the show at the Cow Palace, twice as many as in past years. Many gun shows have reported 50-60% increases in attendance as people hurry to purchase firearms and ammunition, in expectation of new restrictions on gun rights by the Obama administration.
I sometimes sit and scratch my head, wondering how the modern Democratic Party leadership got on the “wrong side” of the “issue” (interesting that Constitutional Rights can be called “issues”) of the Second Amendment Rights of Americans.
(Note added May 23, 2009: In a 60 Minutes interview with California U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, Senator Feinstein stated that the timing is not right for pushing for further gun control at the NATIONAL level, and that such a move might be a distraction for the Obama administration. Feinstein said that she is holding off for now (in response to a question by Leslie Stahl), and she said that “I’ll pick the time and the place, no question about it,” to seek the renewal of the assault weapons ban. [“Assault weapons” is a a meaningless term in this case. True “selective fire” weapons have been effectively regulated in the United States since the first half of the 20th century. The “assault weapons” ban controlled the possession of semi-automatic firearms that LOOKED frightening to some folks – a strategy that has been pretty effectively implemented in California.] Feinstein stated that “The National Rifle Association essentially has a stranglehold on the Congress.” Or, just maybe, the NRA has been effective in blocking the erosion of Constitutional Rights of Americans by Congress, as has arguably already occurred in California. Again, I scratch my head wondering how the Democratic Party leadership got on the “wrong side” of the Second Amendment. I suggest that the leadership might read more Thomas Jefferson: “The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.” Those are wise and strong words from a man who was one of our Founding Fathers and who became the third President of the United States.)
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