Gun Laws: Only people who respect the law obey the law

California receives an A- for its gun laws from the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. <http://bit.ly/1XG9fWt>

A summary of California's gun laws in effect now and at the time of the San Bernardino shootings on Dec. 2, 2015, is below this article.

An important thing to remember about laws is they dictate "behavior." A law is rarely preemptive. So most laws are applied after the fact.

The subtitle to Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence's website reads "Because Smart Laws Save Lives."  This is relevant, I think, to the requirement for training on the use and safety of firearms.  But in terms of who has access to firearms, I'm not convinced any law -- dumb or smart -- is effective. The effectiveness of laws is as a tool for the prosecution of those who have broken the law, not those who are inclined to break the law.

This is painfully true for gun laws, because those acts -- intended to be prevented by "Smart Gun Laws" -- so often result in horrendous consequences. The laws of California did not prevent Malik and Farook from carrying out their planned attack on Dec. 2, 2015. Still, there are those, including the President, who insist on the passage of stricter gun laws. In fact, I think what many of those calling for stricter gun laws really want to accomplish (although they will never admit this until they have the power to make it stick) is repeal of the Second Amendment and confiscation of all firearms held by private citizens. I do think they would "allow" hunting firearms and maybe some handguns. All others would be taken, confiscated -- by force.

The United States of America was founded on a distrust of government. That distrust still exists today. I think it is a healthy distrust, and I think it is important to remember that, like a levee, the Constitution is designed to hold government at bay. But just as a levee must be maintained so, too, must the Constitution.

Maintaining the Constitution is a convoluted process because people have differing ideas of what maintaining the Constitution means. People have differing opinions on what the Constitution is, too. There are those who believe (some Supreme Court members among them) the Constitution is a Living Constitution, that it is dynamic, animate, changing.

Opposed to this idea of loose construction-ism are those who adhere to (including some Supreme Court members)  the idea that the original meaning or intent of the #Constitution should be discovered and applied accordingly. Original-ism is the more difficult of the two, as you can imagine. How can you possibly discover what the Constitution's original authors intended? Luckily, these authors were rather prolific chroniclers. We have The Federalist Papers to elucidate us as to philosophy of thought, and there are dictionaries from the 1700s to educate us on the meaning of the words used. It just takes a little research and informed discussion.

I think the larger issue facing us as a nation, but made manifest by the clash of ideas surrounding gun control, is: How are we going to be governed going forward? That is, are we going to be governed by principles or personalities?

Among other things, California:
Requires all gun sales to be processed through a licensed dealer, requiring a background check;
Requires gun dealers to obtain a state license;
Bans most assault weapons and .50 caliber rifles, and prohibits the sale or transfer of large capacity ammunition magazines;
Requires all firearms purchasers to obtain a Firearm Safety Certificate, after passing a written test;
Regulates gun shows in a comprehensive manner;
Limits handgun purchases to one per person per month;
Prohibits the sale of “unsafe handguns” not on the state’s roster of approved handguns;
Imposes a ten-day waiting period prior to the sale or transfer of a firearm;
Maintains permanent records of firearm sales;
Gives local law enforcement discretion to deny a license to carry a concealed weapon; and
Gives local governments authority to regulate firearms and ammunition, although the state legislature has expressly removed this authority in certain areas.
In addition, in 2007, California became the first jurisdiction in the nation to require handgun microstamping and, in 2014, was the first to enact a Gun Violence Restraining Order law to help keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.