Quill pens, guns, ink and bullets

By: RAY HAYNES - Commentary: | Tuesday, June 13, 2006 9:06 PM PDT ∞

When the Founding Fathers took the initiative to permanently inscribe our natural rights on paper, one can imagine it being done so with a quill pen.

The first copies which enshrined our liberties in the Constitution as the Bill of Rights to include the freedom of religion, freedom of the press and the right to keep and bear arms were printed with a manual printing press.

This freedom of speech includes our right to express ourselves with every available medium. At no point have we considered that the freedom of speech is limited to expressing oneself with hand presses and quill pens. We freely debate on the Internet, television, telephones and other forms of communication.

So why is it that our Second Amendment is not treated the same as the first? The majority party in California and their anti-civil rights allies views our natural right to self-defense to be limited to the musket and the flintlock.

Since I have been in office, the majority party has found cause to attack small guns, cheap guns, expensive guns, big guns, guns with too many accessories, guns by brand name, ugly guns and pretty guns.

We have a strange testing requirement to purchase a gun reminiscent of poll taxes and literacy tests that were designed to keep oppressed people from voting. We have limited the number of guns someone can purchase in a month. Can you imagine being told how many times you are allowed to attend church in a month?

As you can imagine, this has little impact on true crime or any of the other bogus arguments used to suppress your rights. The majority party claims to believe in several of your rights and has seen fit to make themselves the arbiters of which ones you are allowed to exercise, how often and with as many hoops to jump through as possible.

This session in the Legislature, we have defeated bills that would have required anti-gun rhetoric on material distributed with new firearms, a bill that would have required guns and ammunition to have microscopic serial numbers imprinted in them, as if inspired by a late night of watching TV shows like CSI, and a bill that would have banned dogs from chasing rabbits! These bills are sold as crime-fighting tools.

After a half century of these types of laws, we are no safer. In truth, the criminal element is safer every time we disarm the law-abiding population.

Not able to totally ban firearms, the majority party has found a new vehicle to disarm you, banning ammunition.

AB 2714 (Alberto Torrico) passed the Assembly last week and is now in the Senate. This bill will require that all transactions in ammunition require the consumer to meet with the retailer face-to-face and present ID. With tens of millions of shooters in America, untold millions of rounds of ammunition are sold directly to the public through catalog and Internet sales. Hard-to-find, bulk items, specialty items, discounted rates and convenience are all to be had for the consumer by purchasing online. AB 2714 seeks to regulate interstate commerce, ammunition, gun rights and the Internet in one fell swoop by a rabid and illogical anti-gun owner agenda.

To get the bill out of the lower house, the author promised to amend it later. He promised that he wouldn't seek to ban purchasing ammo anymore. He would instead amend the bill to require you to present identification to the UPS delivery truck that is bringing you your product. I suppose if law enforcement won't support your unnecessary legislation, you can just deputize the entire UPS and FedEx fleets to do your dirty work.

The goal is to make it so uncomfortable to be a gun owner that your kids won't even bother. The outcome of this bill remains to be seen, but I know that when one right is stolen away the others will follow.

Ray Haynes represents the 66th Assembly District, including portions of Riverside and San Diego counties.

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6 comment(s)[-]Go to Top

AR-15 Owner wrote on Jun 14, 2006 7:27 AM:Excellent commentary by Ray Haynes. It's not surprising that this type of legislation comes out of the Assembly Public Safety Committee headed up by Marxist demokrats like Assemblyman Mark Leno from San Francisco. It is a constant battle to hold these socialists off out here in California. This state used to be regarded as "Reagan Country." Now it has become the People's Republic of Kalifornia. HELP!

Rambo wrote on Jun 14, 2006 4:00 PM:Hey Mr. Haynes Your my main man! Go after those lazy public school teachers and put those overpayed politicians to shame in Sacramento. If we put GOD back into are schools and in the governors mansion we would be a better state. I know GOD is on your side so keep up the good fight. By the way, kick all those illegals out of are schools and put them in jail where they belong!! Bring back the true America. Rambo E Pluribus Unim

No Problem wrote on Jun 14, 2006 4:48 PM:I'm glad to see some common sense come to the legislature. Guns are useless without ammunition. It's actually the bullets that kill, not the gun. Too bad they aren't proposing to put some type of sin tax (very significant) on ammunition as well. Neither guns nor ammunition should be easily available over the internet, through catalogs or by just walking into a store without someone justifying that they are a responsible citizen. Let's start recording who buys what and when, and make a paper trail, perhaps we'll be able to stop a few innocent children and people from getting killed. BTW Haynes, your melodramtic diatribes are getting a little old. I'll be glad when you leave office. We need another Republican, but one who leans a little more to the center. Your right field drama events are just too much. It's time you take a break from the public feeding trough and go get a job.

just a patriot wrote on Jun 15, 2006 9:04 AM:Glad to see a spark of hope for California's citizens right to Constitutional protection finally becoming a flame! There may be hope for Califonia yet! Keep up the good work.

Michael wrote on Jun 15, 2006 2:06 PM:CA has been a police state for some time now and yet I see some hope for citizens, but only if they stay involved. Things have been happening in San Diego that cause me to believe that CCW is not impossible in CA now. Just look at the rest of the forty states with it! It's very much needed in CA. Also, review of the Public Records Act of California is in order. That would prevent cops from hiding their records. Say look, a major proposition, Prop A., was defeated in Santa Clara county. It's "a step in the right direction" for getting citizens back in control for a lot of reasons. It may sound corny but that, cursive writing and gun ownership all go together. All take coordination leading to better self expression and citizen safety. Please also remember: These are the times of collapse of the big local papers. That means that Internet information about gun rights and other rights issues are finally getting to the people without as much political control. A page like yours is a gold mine for that reason. People must become more vocal about taser misuse too. Thanks for your consideration.

Mac S. wrote on Jun 15, 2006 5:43 PM:Odd - a stripper can take off his or her closthes and it is a 1st AMednment right but try carrying a gun and Whoa! Police will be out with a SWAT Team! CCW - you mean let the state dictate what and how you can exercise your 2nd Amendment Right! In California, try carrying a Bowie knife out in the open! Oh - heaven forbid! Califrnia state law say it MUST be carried in the open but cities have gone so far as to say it must be boxed (similar to firearms). The 2nd Amendment was not just about firearms! It was about swords, knives and - yes Tasers and even baseball bats. Citizens, the actual "rulers" of this great nation are not "subjects" where Kings and Queens deemed who could and couldn't carry - well prior to 1968 we weren't! The California legislature is out to disarm everyone banning cheap guns, big guns, ugly guns and any other tpe of firearm that they can tag with anyone of their cute little nick-names such as "sniper" " Saturday Night special," "junk," "bunny," "assault" "armor piercing"or anyone of any name they can tag it with. They do the same with taxes convincing the public that "smokers" should pay for their own "health care" and then use the funds to bail out emergency rooms who are goiung bankrupt treating illegal aliens. Kinda why I left!

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