Posted on 05/25/2004 8:11:01 PM PDT by Dan from Michigan
NEWS RELEASE
CCRKBA CALLS CA. THUMB-PRINT-FOR-AMMO PROPOSAL 'INSIDIOUS PRIVACY INVASION'
A bill passed by the California Senate that would require ammunition buyers to provide a thumb print at the time of purchase amounts to "an insidious invasion of privacy," the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) said today.
"California lawmakers are trying to reinvent a broken wheel," said CCRKBA Executive Director Joe Waldron. "Recording ammunition sales has proven to be ineffective in solving crime, and requiring a thumb print moves this idea into the realm of the ludicrous. It's a waste of time and taxpayers' money, but more importantly, this constitutes a serious privacy issue. If this measure dealt with something other than a gun control issue, the ACLU would be screaming about it.
"If this becomes law," he added, "it is just another example of California lawmakers treating honest gun owners like criminals. What comes next? Will citizens be required to submit a fingperprint to buy a car? Will the next dumb idea force gun owners to submit their medical records before they can legally buy firearms and ammunition?"
Senate Bill 1152, which passed the Senate 22-16 and has been sent to the Assembly, would require anyone who purchases ammunition to provide personal information to the retailer, including a thumb print. The dealer would have to retain that record. Presumably, this thumb print could be used as evidence in court for a post-purchase conviction in the case of a charge being filed against someone who is not eligible to own or possess a firearm or ammunition. But Waldron noted that such requirements have been tried in the past and scrapped.
"Requiring such information has yet to prevent or solve a single crime," Waldron stated. "If this measure is enacted, it might result in the creation of a black market for ammunition. It could also open the way for retailers to be prosecuted for a technical violation if they don't get a readable fingerprint. How many gun dealers know the proper way to roll a thumb print? Is anybody in Sacramento thinking about any of this?
"Gun rights organizations fought similar proposals ten years ago, because they accomplished nothing," Waldron recalled. "It would appear that some California lawmakers are no smarter now than they were then."
With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is one of the nation's premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States.
Boom
PING!
Arine veto this bill-a voter
Los Angeles County has had this same thumb print jive, for a few years now.
LOL! Just pinged you to a duplicate thread on this.
I wonder if the thumb print will have an "instant match" database attached (like NICS) to "catch" felons trying to purchase ammo.
holy hell.
And so it goes in Kali.
TERMINATTOR wrote:
Los Angeles County...
That's LA city, isn't it? You can buy ammunition in, for example, Pasadena (which is in LA county), without a thumbprint.
Anyway, an even worse aspect of this bill was missed by this particular e-mail. From the state's web page:
" Under existing law, it is a misdemeanor to sell ammunition to a person knowing that the person is under 18 years of age, but provides that reliance upon evidence of identity shall be is a defense.
This bill would instead provide that it is a misdemeanor to sell ammunition to a person under 18 years of age, but would provide that reasonable reliance upon evidence of identity would be a defense."
That one little word "reasonable" is there to encourage litigation against retailers selling ammunition, thus discouraging people from carrying, or continuing to carry ammunition.
Jack Scott is a real peach.
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