[url]http://www.dailybreeze.com/content/bln/nmsafeguns3.html[/url]
link wont last after today, i posted this in the GD forum, but ill paste the entire article here


Cheap guns still being sold despite new law
By James P. Sweeney
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE

SACRAMENTO — A new handgun safety test designed to pinch the supply of cheap, disposable weapons known as Saturday Night Specials doesn't appear to be pushing many guns to the sidelines.

Through its first eight months, nearly 600 different handgun models have passed the punishing firing and drop tests, according to a list compiled by the state Department of Justice.

“Most of the stuff we sell is back on the shelf now,” said Fred Darling, manager of Southern California Sharpshooter Inc. in Torrance.

The total counts an unknown but significant number of models that are only cosmetically different — a chrome rather than blue steel finish, for example. But it also includes at [b]least 12 different guns manufactured by so-called Ring of Fire companies, a cluster of Southern California manufacturers who have been accused of flooding the nation with inexpensive handguns.[/b]

The legislation that required the safety tests originally was aimed at the Ring of Fire companies, firms such as Bryco Arms of Costa Mesa, Davis Industries of Chino and Phoenix Arms of Ontario.

It's unknown how many guns have failed the tests. Private laboratories that do the tests are not required to report failures to the state, although most apparently do. Manufacturers also can and have been resubmitting weapons that wash out initially.

[b]Attorney General Bill Lockyer publicly accused at least one manufacturer of attempting to manipulate the tests and others are known to be carefully selecting ammunition to improve their guns' prospects.[/b]
[i](pheonix arms, re-submitted with specific ammo and passed, where it failed the first time, an Anaheim, kalif gun store was busted for selling this gun legally while the DOJ says its illegal)[/i]

Gun enthusiasts, dealers and manufacturers say the new law has done little more than create another expensive, annoying paper drill that has had virtually no impact of the availability of cheap handguns in the state.

As a result, just two years after the handgun measure was celebrated as yet another major gun-control breakthrough in California, all involved in the debate are openly discussing a major overhaul.

“We are very concerned about some of the guns that are on the (approved) list and some of the loopholes that we overlooked,” said Luis Tolley of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which sponsored the legislation.
[i](this twit PRAISED THE PASSAGE OF THE LAW, now back peddles, typical liberal puke)[/i]

SB15 failure continued

Chuck Michel, a San Pedro attorney for the California Rifle and Pistol Association, said: “There is a fix-it bill pending because they recognize there are a lot of problems.”

But Tolley and others say the number of guns on the list also reflect design improvements inspired by the law. [i](Bullshit)[/i]

The Brady Campaign, formerly Handgun Control, had been pushing for at least three years for legislation to curb production and sales of inexpensive, easily concealed handguns.

Such a law proved difficult to draft, however, and the gun-control movement ultimately settled for Senate Bill 15, which passed amid the post-Columbine fever of 1999. The measure decreed a series of safety tests, although supporters offered little evidence that many people were being killed or injured because handguns were poorly made.

To pass, three versions of each model must fire 600 rounds with no more than six malfunctions. The same guns are then dropped from a height of a little over three feet onto a concrete pad from six directions with the hammer cocked and the safety off. All three must withstand the exercise without discharging.

Although the legislation passed and was signed in late 1999, it did not take effect until Jan. 1 of this year. Since then, the test results have not followed any pattern, those involved say.

[b]“I've seen what people think is a cheaply made handgun, just because it's low-cost, and it worked quite well. And I've seen a very expensive gun that most police would be happy to carry, that failed,”[/b] said Mike Shanahan, who tests guns for Truesdail Laboratories of Tustin.

Dean Wilkerson, who operates a testing lab in Van Nuys, said “it's the luck of the draw” with a lot of handguns.

[b]“I have failed some high-quality guns,”[/b] Wilkerson said. “You've got to shoot three handguns, 600 rounds each, and two of them passed with no malfunctions at all, and the third one failed because it has seven malfunctions.”

Wilkerson said he has tested a lot of Ring of Fire models. While some failed, more than a few passed, he said.

“They passed with no problem and there are higher quality guns that didn't pass,” Wilkerson said.

Aaron Davis of Davis Industries said the company had no trouble getting its 12 models, representing four guns, passed and placed on the state list.

The guns, all derringers ranging from .22 caliber to .38 caliber, all passed on their first attempt, Davis said. The guns sell for $100 to $125. The .38 caliber was redesigned to strengthen the trigger before the tests.

“I don't personally like (the tests), but we will try to do whatever they want us to do,” Davis said.

Sb15 fialure continue part 3

In February, Attorney General Lockyer publicly berated Phoenix Arms for allegedly attempting to maneuver some of its guns through the process by halting a test and restarting it with a new set of weapons, and by submitting a specific brand of ammunition. [i](which they legally have the right to do under the law, AG Lockyer doesnt know his own damn law)[/i]

"We have seen some models," said Randy Rossi, who heads the attorney general's firearms division, "where they are trying with this ammo and then they switch. They stop the test and try with another ammo, and then they stop the test and they try with a third ammo.

"We want to know of those situations where a gun is maybe so frail that even the manufacturer has to be very selective as to what ammunition will work well." [i](like the hi quality Seecamp that is only supposed to use 1 type of ammo?)[/i]

In early talks on potential changes, the Brady Campaign and Attorney General's Office say they want to require labs to report all failures. [b]They also believe the state should have clear authority to randomly test a sample, perhaps 10 percent to 15 percent, of handguns that pass.[/b] [i](this is NOT in the law, are the antis trying to change the rules of THEIR OWN LAW TO SAFTISY THEMSELVES?)[/i]

[b]Additionally, the Brady Campaign wants the ability to recall firearms later found to have problems and it would like to see weapons tested with a standard, or recommended ammunition.[/b]

"I don't really think we know, unless we have the ability to randomly test and receive reports from the laboratories, of instances where a specific model has tried and failed, tried and failed, tried and failed, tried and passed," Rossi said.

Publish Date:Monday September 03


emphasis added by ME, now thats some SERIOUS AMOUNT OF BULLSHIT going on. they will probably pass a NEW law and require RE-TESING OF THE 600 MODELS, until the gun companies decide to not test here, and Kalif makes $$$ in the process whether or not they win or lose.