mattja
April 10, 2002

Carl Washington, Chair
California Assembly Public Safety Committee
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0001
Phone: (916) 319-2052
Fax: (916) 319-2152


Dear Mr. Washington,

I am writing you today to express my opposition to AB2222, a bill that is coming up in your committee on April 16th, that would impose a ban on the private ownership of .50 caliber long-range target rifles in California.

For over 10 years now, California gun owners have been under siege by those who do not recognize our natural, and Constitutional, right to keep and bear arms. In 1989, RR89 forced the registration of militia-style rifles. In 1999, SB23 expanded that registration to include rifles based on feature set and then banned them entirely. Since then we have added bills to require trigger locks with the sale of every gun, limits on handgun purchases to one gun a month, and starting next year, a safety demonstration is required before one can purchase a handgun as well as a renewable handgun license.

Now, with AB2222, our lawmakers would impose a ban on single-shot rifles - rifles that are legal in every state in the union -- simply because they have the ability to reach targets located over 1000 yards away? Enough is enough! It is my belief that we are now in "slippery slope" territory and if this bill is passed, it is just a matter of time before all high-powered rifles are banned in California.

This is why I am telling you today that the time has come for California gun owners to take a stand. For far too long we have allowed that line in the sand to be drawn closer in our direction, but we will tolerate the infringement of our rights no longer.

I, for one, am putting those who would pass unconstitutional laws such as this on notice that I refuse to obey this law. I will not register my target rifle, I will not turn it in, I will not move it out of the state, and I will not bow down and obey unconstitutional ex-post facto laws. It is my property, I purchased it before it was reclassified as an "evil sniper rifle", and I will not surrender it.

Please understand that I am not a "gun nut." My father is a retired lawyer, I am a college graduate and highly compensated engineer, I have a wife and a new baby, and obviously a lot to lose. But I can no longer tolerate the infringement of my rights. I will stand for it no longer.

Therefore, I implore you to oppose AB2222, a thoroughly unnecessary and unconstitutional bill - a misguided solution in search of a problem.

Sincerely,

mattja

Quoted:
Writing letters is a waste of time.

Quoted:
As far as the moral argument that "my country" has been attacked, all I can say is, this isn't "my country" and hasn't been for quite a long time. I pay nearly half my income in taxes and have no functioning representation in "my government". As far as I'm concerned, it was New York, in all its decandent, decaying socialist splendor that was attacked more than anything else. I used to live there and I can tell you--if the whole city gets nuked at some point, the big loss will be to capitalism, not to the gene pool. Personally, I'd rather see them bust up DC where a comeuppance is so richly deserved.

Quoted:
The state of California is already tracking honest gun owners as if they are criminals.  The handgun purchase registration records compiled by the state since 1991 are held by the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information.  You know - the guys that track felons like murderers and registered sex offenders..