An XDS-9 c
ame in the mail today for a customer. I turned the case to the side and there it was: the “NOT LEGAL IN CALIFORNIA” warning.
Always so special, Kali. They take really good care of their citizens there. From special lawnmowers to special (that is, limited) firearms–I’m sure safety has arrived and everyone enjoys an idyllic and bucolic lifestyle. And with the recent batch of laws, folks on the internet have again turned to debating what can be done, if at all, to stop or reverse firearm legislation there. Some are sure it’s too late now and there is nothing to do; it will continue to get worse. Others say there is perhaps a glimmer of hope, given some recent court rulings, and things would get better.
One of the side effects of prohibitions is that over time you don’t just ban the object or action (or severely limit or control their use) but also eradicate the culture around it. And by culture we don’t mean the core “gun culture” as we identify it, but also all of the peripheral things that go along with it: merely a general awareness by the population at large that guns exist, that people use them, that there are businesses around them, marketers for those businesses and so on. Once that is gone, then it becomes even more difficult for the core gun culture to achieve not just legislative wins but also cultural acceptance. It becomes a bit of a vicious circle: there is no gun freedom because there is no gun freedom to be wanted and demanded. After a few generations nobody will be left to remember what it was like to have it. Granted, in today’s modern world of instant communications and cheap travel, people can see how things are elsewhere, so perhaps a possibility of change for the better. Of course, the upcoming election is likely to determine many things. But that’s another matter altogether…
CA can only be saved from the outside at this point.
I’ve briefly considered getting that sticker as a tattoo, but the only place that makes sense is right on the trigger finger. And that would be unprofessional in the long term, and painful in the short term.
Hence the main reason for “Shall NOT be infringed.” I agree with Dave, Kali will only be forced to change from Federal intervention., ie Fed court rulings. Which at this junction look iffy.
I live in upstate NY, and the feeling here is similar – help from the outside is the only chance left to improve things. The good news is that a majority of the country is moving in the right direction, it’s really only a handful of states that are putting the screws to the second amendment. Well, unless mighty progressive Hillary wins, then you can expect everything to wind up worse than California.
I feel for the Californian gun owners these days. They are truly stuck behind enemy lines. The city politicians steer the state, where the population in the outlying areas often gets screwed by their decisions.
I’ve left various posts in forums like Calguns and elsewhere that I think in order to be saved, CA needs to do outreach in a big way to attract more people to gun culture and ownership. Taking new shooters to the range is fine and should always be done, but it’s a slow process.
One of my suggestions is that there should be a Texas-style Firearms Festival held in California. Not a small boring gun-show kind of affair, but a big extravaganza that has dozens of shooting bays, has the industry help set up and participate, has gun celebrities like Jerry Miculek and Chris Cheng appear, and has all sorts of fun and cool gun exhibits. Local vendors could give out coupons for free safety classes, discounts off first-time firearms purchases, and free range rentals, etc. And it should be held outside a large liberal metro center like the Bay Area or Los Angeles.
This kind of event gets attention, especially from the local media. This has two purposes. One is to allow folks who were curious or on the fence to come and try something fun. The other is to get good media exposure. If a successful firearms festival is held, you’d have three days where people of all sorts people (hopefully more than OFWGs! If it’s marketed correctly =) ) and children come, have fun with guns, and NO ONE GOT HURT!
Sure it’d be hella expensive, and I’m sure in California the paperwork, planning, and safety concerns would be a logistical nightmare. But I think it would pay off. We here in Silicon Valley have a huge untapped libertarian market, and plenty of bored nerds just vying for a new hobby (if they weren’t into guns already).
That’s my suggestion for how to save California. Expose folks to the culture in a big and fun way, and don’t be afraid to be bold.
The ‘approved’ gun list is another end run on the 2nd Amendment, and gun owner’s freedom of choice… sigh