Please read all of George Skelton's column in the Los Angeles Times. Skelton has covered government and politics for The Times since 1974, and in his latest piece, he wrote about his suggestion to lawmakers that they close the bullet-buying loophole. He bases his premise on the recent Santa Monica murders (in which the shooter got around California's ban on assault weapons by acquiring parts and assembling his own rifle).
Apparently L.A. Times readers disagree with both Skelton and myself:
Here are a few pertinent excerpts from the column:
From what I've been reading, the Santa Monica killer was packing an illegal assault rifle and 40 high-capacity ammunition magazines. He sprayed 100 bullets and had access to 1,300.
And, oh yes, he was a mental case. [...]
And his stockpile of 1,300 rounds of ammo is evidence that background checks are needed for bullet buyers. Guns don't kill people. Bullets do. [...]
[Sen. Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles)] asserted during the Senate debate, "You can walk out of San Quentin Prison … walk into a Big 5, any mom and pop, bait and tackle store, in fact you can back up a U-Haul truck, and you can load up all the ammunition you want. No questions asked." [...]
Responded Republican Sen. Stephen Knight of Palmdale: "It's not the magazines. These people have problems. They're crazy. You can't stop crazy people from doing crazy things."
Maybe not. But you can stop them from being armed for bear — or, more specifically, for the mass slaughter of truly innocent people. [...]
[Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento)]: "...The gun manufacturers have found every single loophole possible" to get around it. Such as selling parts so killers like Zawahri can customize their own weapons.
He goes on to explain that a nationwide ban would be, um, helpful, because anyone can buy banned firearms from private sellers at gun shows in nearby states and then move them across state borders with no pesky background checks to get in their way.
L.A. Police Chief Charlie Beck said, "There's nothing that's an absolute solution. But if you put enough controls in place, that makes it less and less likely there will be gun violence."
And as Skelton put it, that might "slightly inconvenience gun owners. But their convenience is trumped by saving lives."
Tell that to all those gun-totin' "pro-lifers."
The post Killer had illegal assault rifle, 40 high-capacity magazines, sprayed 100 bullets, had access to 1300. "And, oh yes, he was a mental case." appeared first on The Political Carnival.
