Author: Grumpy

California enacts first gun and ammunition tax in the country

Post author By Grumpy
Post date September 28, 2023
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California enacts first statewide gun and ammunition tax in the country

by: Sergio Robles

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to clarify that one of the new laws will require microstamping on cartridge cases every time a pistol is fired.

(KTXL) — California Governor Gavin Newsom signed several firearms and ammunition-related bills into law on Tuesday, including one to tax guns and ammunition and another that places more rules on people seeking a concealed carry weapons permit.

The signings come just days after a Newsom-led campaign to amend the U.S. Constitution passed out of the California Legislature.

The measure passed by legislators calls for a state Constitutional Convention to consider additional federal rules on firearms purchases and use, but two-thirds of states need to pass similar measures in order for the process to advance.

With the signing of AB 28, California will now add an 11% excise tax on the purchase of guns and ammunition, an amount that the bill’s author states is lower than the excise tax on marijuana sales.

There are exceptions to the tax, such as police agencies and businesses with extremely low sales.

The bill’s author, Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, said that the tax money will go toward preventing gun violence and reducing the costs associated with the health and criminal justice systems when treating patients of gun violence.

Gabriel cited the federal tax on guns and ammunition, which funds hunting and wildlife programs across the country, as a reason to have a statewide tax to fund gun safety programs.

“If we can have a tax to protect wildlife, we can have one that protects people,” Gabriel said.

Another significant bill signed into law on Tuesday is SB 2, by Sen. Anthony Portantino, which will change the rules for carrying concealed weapons.

California’s new law requires permit holders to be 21, bans concealed weapons from most public places, including parks, schools, government buildings, hospitals, and places where alcohol is sold, as well as at public demonstrations and gatherings.

Sen. Portantino said it is common sense to want to protect yourself with a concealed firearm, but that firearms may not be needed at a ballfield or at a restaurant where alcohol is served.

“You as a responsible person with that permit will need to do a little work to know where it is allowed,” Portantino said.

Another new law, SB 452, will require beginning in 2028 that all pistols have microstamping technology, which will leave unique markings on cartridge cases when the pistol is fired, making it easier to trace which weapon was used in a shooting.

California has some of the lowest gun death rates in the country, ranking 43rd out of 50 states with 9 deaths for every 100,000 people, according to 2021 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But violent crimes have increased recently. The violent crime rate increased by 6.1% in 2022, according to the California Department of Justice.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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California: “Yes, the Second Amendment affirms your Right to keep and bear arms, but we’re going to make sure you can’t afford it, nor are you going to be able to afford ammunition to learn to shoot safely.”

Ammo

New York’s Ammunition Background Check System: An Expensive Wreck?

Post author By Grumpy
Post date September 28, 2023
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The F-35 stealth jet isn’t the only example of expensive technology that crashed recently. The implementation of New York’s ammunition background check law – the rollout of which was, to be generous, extremely low visibility – was a disaster of its own, judging from initial reports.

The new law was actually passed as part of broader gun control legislation a decade ago. The so-called SAFE Act (2013) authorized a statewide ammunition background check database and required that the superintendent of the state police make a formal “certification” that the database was “operational” before the law could take effect.

Confusion over whether this has occurred and what the new changes involve is understandable. Readers of the government’s official “Gun Safety in NYS” website were still being given the following outdated information as of September 21:

Is there any background check now required for purchasers of ammunition?

Not yet. The law provides that background check requirements imposed on all retail sellers of ammunition are scheduled to take effect on September 13, 2023.

To complicate things, the implementation of the ammunition background check law coincides with another gun control development in the Empire State, pursuant to which the New York State Police (rather than the FBI) is responsible for conducting all firearm and ammunition-related checks using both NICS and a “statewide license and record database.”

The database requires detailed personal information about the purchaser: name, “up to five additional names/aliases,” residential address, date of birth, height, weight, race, ethnicity, “prior military status,” country and place of birth, citizenship, whether and what driver’s license or government-issued identification the person has, social security number, contact information, and (for ammunition buys) the manufacturer, the “Ammunition Identification Number,” the caliber and amount of ammunition being purchased. (The State Police guide for dealers has, out of a total of 21 pages, devoted eight to the initial personal information needed.)

All background check transactions currently “need to be processed online,” as an “Interactive Voice Response (IVR) telephone solution is in the process of being implemented but will not be available until October.”

Shortly before September 13, a gun store owner indicated that there was no outreach: “No dealer in New York has been contacted by the state about how it will work.” Other ammunition retailers complain that the new system isn’t actually working – apart from the time it takes just to enter the required customer information online, there are significant delays in getting the system up and running and in response times. “It took eight hours between a computer tech and me to play with their website to get their website working,” reported one gun store owner. Only a few days after the system went live, another retailer expressed frustration with delays before a sale could proceed, describing his longest wait time for a response (at that point) as 22 hours.

Even worse, an improper denial means the person has to appeal to the State Police and wait out the appeal period of up to 30 days before being able to purchase ammunition. Tom King, the executive director of the New York Rifle & Pistol Association and the holder of a state pistol permit for over 40 years, was denied when he tried to buy shotgun shells, and has since appealed. “They’re denying everybody I’ve talked to,” he said.

Gun owners are dinged with additional fees to pay for this, being $2.50 for ammunition purchase background checks and $9.00 for firearms, and the law will have other, less obvious financial repercussions. “We lose money on every box of ammo we sell because of the time involved,” one retailer says, adding that, “It’s not going to get easier. We’re going to have to raise our prices.”

A newsletter from New York’s Assembly Minority Office of Public Affairs confirms there are “very legitimate concerns about the burden this new system will place” on the business community, the State Police, and gun owners. “Costs will go up and it is unclear what benefits this new law will generate…This law targets law-abiding gun owners and puts yet another financial burden on already overtaxed businesses and individuals. It is hard not to look at this as anything more than a punitive fee for access to the Second Amendment.”

Empire State residents who are not gun owners won’t escape the reach of this folly, either – a reported $20 million in the 2023-24 budget has been allocated for the State Police for implementation, including the hiring of 100 additional personnel.

The most ridiculous thing about all this wasted time, money, ink and effort is that New York’s dangerous criminals will continue to flout the law. The executive director of one New York gun control group was quoted as saying that, although “lawful gun owners may have to wait a bit longer right now in the immediate, they themselves understand what could potentially happen if an individual who does not have a license or does not pass a background check is able to obtain that gun.” Contrary to her claims, lawful gun owners understand all too well that criminals don’t waste time jumping through government hoops to buy guns or ammunition. “The only people that this is affecting,” says Tom King, “is the lawful legal citizen in New York state.”

————————————————————————————– I am sure that up state New York is just over joyed by this. Thanks to NYC and its choices that they make. Grumpy

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Culver City purchases closing gun store to prevent another from opening by: Travis Schlepp

Post author By Grumpy
Post date September 28, 2023
No Comments on Culver City purchases closing gun store to prevent another from opening by: Travis Schlepp

A soon-to-be vacant gun store in Culver City has a new owner: the city itself.

Earlier this month, Culver City announced plans to purchase the Martin B. Retting Gun Store on Washington Boulevard for a price tag of more than $6 million.

The gunshop was a mainstay in Culver City for more than six decades, but in July, its longtime owners announced the store would be closing shop.

After 65 years in business, with the company staying in the hands of various members of the Retting family throughout, retirement beckoned its current owners.

“Despite having overcome and flourished after everything the firearms industry could throw at us, it turns out that the one thing we can’t defeat is the inevitable march of time,” store management wrote in a note to customers posted on its website.

The Martin B. Retting Gun Store in Culver City is shown on Sept. 27, 2023. The gun store has a new owner—the city itself. (KTLA)

The store became the subject of public ire in recent years due to its close proximity to La Ballona Elementary School.

It was also listed in a 2022 report by the California Department of Justice identifying it as one of the state’s top sources of guns that were illegally possessed, were used in the commission of a crime, or were suspected of having been used in a crime.

Years ago, Culver City passed an ordinance that prohibits gun sellers from operating businesses near schools, but the gun store received leniency due to its longtime residency and was allowed to keep doing business.

But those rights were transferrable, officials said, meaning if the storefront were to ever be sold, a new one could quickly take its place.

Yasmine Imani-McMorrin, the city’s vice mayor, said the city listened to input from the community and determined many were worried about public safety if a new store were to open.

“They had concerns about their families’ well-being,” Imani-Mcmorrin told KTLA’s Rachel Menitoff.

At a Sept. 11 city council meeting, the council met to discuss the sale and listen to feedback from the community. A crowd of mostly supporters gathered in the chambers to urge councilmembers to vote in support of the city’s purchase.

“Ending gun sales in our school zones will have an impact on our children and families that will be felt for generations,” said Melody Hanson, a mother and member of Culver 878, a local gun safety advocacy group.

After public comment ended, the council unanimously voted in favor of purchasing the property for $6.5 million. But despite the unanimous support from the council, not all in Culver City were encouraged by the sale.

Gary Zeiss, a Culver City resident who called into oppose the purchase, raised concerns about the overall cost of the property, which he said was significantly above market value.

“I am not a Second Amendment proponent by any stretch of the imagination, however I am a proponent of good government,” Zeiss said. “There’s no evidence that the value of the property is in any way proportional to the value of other properties in the area.”

Zeiss also questioned why the property was being purchased without any definitive plans on how it will be used.

In a statement provided to KTLA Wednesday, Mayor Albert Vera confirmed that there was no immediate plan for the property, but said it will eventually serve the community as a whole.

“The City’s decision to purchase the building is in large part from listening to the community and its desire to have a different use for that location. It will be an involved process with the community on the next steps for that building and what it ultimately will become,” the statement reads.

The Martin B. Retting Gun Store initially planned to shutter its doors at the end of July, but it remained open as recently as early September. Despite the retirement of its owners, guns and other merchandise were being sold at their original prices because the business closure was “not a liquidation, clearance or distress sale.”

The store’s phone number has since been disconnected.

—————————————————————————————-Now I am of mixed minds about this subject. For the following reason below.

In that I now have one less Gunshop to go to here in LA LA Land. A dying breed believe me!!

As usual Government has once again shown its ability to spend a LOT of money for basically symbolic reasons. Also I have been to their shop a couple of times. Now they had a great selection of $$$$ guns and a horrible attitude to boot.

Now for the good news. The owners with their backs to the wall were able to make the enemy pay a mighty hefty price for its victory. A weirdly shaped brick buildong with piss poor parking.

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