5 minute read
Shooting Blanks
GUN LAWS TRIGGER POLITICAL THEATER
BY DAN WALTERS
GUEST OPINION
The fusillade of bullets around 10th and K streets in April that left six people dead and a dozen wounded generated demands for new gun controls in a state that already has the nation’s most restrictive fi rearms laws.
However, what happened Downtown underscores the folly of believing that “gun violence” can be meaningfully reduced by trying to choke off the supply of fi rearms, with as much success as the prohibition of liquor or the war on drugs.
The state’s gun laws have hassled law-abiding hunters and gun hobbyists. Some are in danger of being declared unconstitutional. But Californians already own more than 20 million rifl es, shotguns and handguns. They buy hundreds of thousands more each year.
Nor have these laws prevented the lawless from obtaining weapons via theft, smuggling or the illicit
In the aftermath of the shooting, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg lamented about California’s diffi culty in reducing the number of guns, saying, “You just have to go to a gun show in Reno to buy an assault weapon without a background check and come right back to California.”
Advocates of more laws often cite a “gun show loophole,” but it’s a myth. Under federal law, one must be a resident of Nevada and undergo a federal background check to legally buy a gun in Reno.
Moreover, while California professes to have banned “assault weapons,” the state’s defi nition of them involves cosmetic features, rather than lethality. Perfectly legal semi-automatic rifl es that lack those features are available for sale everywhere in the state.
The newest effort at gun control in California, backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, would authorize personal lawsuits against the manufacturers and sellers of illegal assault rifl es or ghost guns, mirroring a new Texas law allowing suits against those who perform abortions.
The legislation, Senate Bill 1327, is just a stunt—one of Newsom’s periodic jabs at a rival state. People who could be sued under the bill are already committing criminal acts in California and a federal law prohibits suits against manufacturers of legal fi rearms, including the “assault weapons” that California and a few other states purport (but fail) to outlaw.
The bottom line: Actor Alec Baldwin’s claims notwithstanding, guns don’t fi re on their own. Someone must accidentally or purposely pull the trigger. That should be the focus of efforts to reduce violence—such as more vigorous enforcement of laws banning gun possession by felons and people under court order.
manufacture of untraceable “ghost guns.” Indeed, state restrictions have made the black market even more lucrative, mirroring the side effects of Prohibition and the drug war.
Initial evidence indicates that the people who fi red more than 100 rounds in a crowded street probably violated one or more gun laws. The two brothers who police quickly arrested were fi rst charged with illegal possession of weapons. One allegedly possessed an illegal, fully automatic fi rearm.
So why, if California’s much-vaunted gun-control laws have failed to choke off the supply of legal and illegal weapons, do politicians claim enacting more laws will have an effect?
Some may believe it, evidence notwithstanding, while others want to appear to do something about a problem because they don’t have any other answers. And those who propose and enact new gun laws are often woefully ignorant about guns or even existing laws.
Dan Walters has been a journalist for more than 60 years, most of that time working for California newspapers. He can be reached at dan@calmatters.org. n
THEATRE GUIDE THEATRE GUIDE
PROCLIVITY FOR KITING
Imagine, for a moment, a city under siege. Government prohibitions are multiplying (for the good of the people). Strawberry pie is illegal. All bicycle tires: confiscated. The word effervescent has been outlawed. Kite Flying – once a popular pastime – is now a capital offense. David and Julia are making the best of things when a mysterious tapping starts to emanate from their apartment wall. As their suspicions proliferate, their world unravels.
3: BLACK GIRL BLUES
This exciting play is a tale of three close friends - Keisha, Jill and Stephanie - who grew up together and now at thirty years old are confronted with facing their demons. Keisha, an urban socialite, has her life crushed when she realizes her long-term boyfriend has had a child with another woman. Jill, a housewife in denial, admits to her husband’s betrayal. Stephanie, an executive in the upper echelon world, has to face the core of her mental illness. 3: Black Girl Blues meditates on the ways we choose to present ourselves and the forces that cause us to come clean. Starring Danielle Mone Truitt. Danielle will be available for meet & greets post-show
THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT
Thru June 5 Capital Stage 2215 J St, Sac CapStage.org REGULAR TICKETS and VIRTUAL TICKETS are available
Based on the true story of reporter John D’Agata’s essay ‘What Happens There’, THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT follows Fingal, who has a small job: to fact-check articles for one of the best magazines in the country. His boss has given him a big assignment: to apply his skill to a groundbreaking piece by legendary author D’Agata. But now Fingal has a huge problem: D’Agata made up a lot of his article. What starts professional quickly becomes profane. A brilliant comedy grappling with a seminal issue of our time. “If we were living through a different moment in time, the writer’s fabricated but emotionally wrenching ‘truth’ would easily outweigh the fact-checker’s chilly reality of events. But with the leader of our nation stomping on truth as we know it, and the very essence of reality imperiled by political fact-stretchers, the debate at the heart of this play transcends comedy and demands serious attention.” – VARIETY
