If you are a gun owner or even if you are not, this should be of concern to you. California Democrats are considering legislation to severely limit sales of ammunition, ban gun shows in the Cow Palace and eliminate your right to re-load your own ammo by outlawing the sale of black powder and other elements.
I don't care if you're a 'gun nut' or not, this should be scaring you. Once again it's the government meddling in places they don't belong, restricting access for legitimate gun owners and acting in direct contra-indication to the rights bestowed on us by our constitution.
Do you really think banning sales of more than 50 pieces of ammunition a month will do ANYTHING to deter criminals? No, it will impact the recreational gun owner who enjoys a weekend of shooting (and there are lots of them). Do you think banning gun sales at the Cow Palace will eliminate criminals easy access to guns? Not for a minute - but for Democrats it's just the first step toward outlawing gun sales in any publicly owned venue, then any privately owned venue, then...
I hate to sound trite but 'When guns are outlawed - only outlaws will have guns'. Democrats will not be happy until every single freedom you and I enjoy is either taken away completely or placed under the benevolent supervision and control of 'the government' or whomever they see fit to assign as arbiters of justice and freedom. Stalin tried it. Hitler gave it a run. It's in the news today from Iran. and it's news from Sacramento - like those boneheads don't have enough to worry about in this fiscally and morally bankrupt state. As if Mark Leno's comedic performance on the budget webinar last week wasn't enough, now he's stepping even further away from anything he knows anything about. Blueberry commission, pomegranite standards, mylar balloons and ammunition rationing? Yeah we need more of that kind of sh**.
Well, it probably doesn't concern your freedom - after all, you're not one of those gun owners. But let me re-iterate a slogan that I fear all too much. 'When they came for the Jews I said nothing, for I was not a Jew. When they came for the Gypsies, I said nothing because I was not a Gypsy and didn't want to make waves. When they came for the Catholics, I said nothing because I'm not a Catholic and didn't want them to notice me. Then they came for me ... and there was nobody left to stand in my defense.' Think I'm being paranoid? Just ask the former Chairman of GM, ask Chrysler, ask the banks, health care providers, insurance carriers - who are they coming for next?
If you don't stand for something, you stand for nothing. I'm not a gun owner but this BS infuriates me. Hopefully you will take a moment. Sen John Benoit is Vice-Chair of the Public Safety Committee and local to the Riverside/Palm Springs area. Please read up on the issue and let our legislators know they should be concentrating on more important matters - like saving our failing state - not worried about injecting themselves into yet another area of our lives.
Two Anti-Gun
Bills
Scheduled to be Considered Next Week!
Please
Contact Your State
Legislators Today!
Assembly
Bill 962
and Senate
Bill 585
are scheduled to
be considered on Tuesday, June 30.
AB962
will be heard in the Senate Public Safety Committee and SB585 will be
considered by the Assembly Public Safety Committee.
Sponsored
by Assembly Member Kevin De Leon (D-45), AB962
would make it a crime to privately transfer more than 50 rounds of
ammunition
per month, even between family and friends, unless you are registered
as a
“handgun ammunition vendor” in the Department of Justice’s
database.
Ammunition retailers would have to be licensed and store ammunition in
such a
manner that it would be inaccessible to purchasers. The
bill would also require purchasers submit to fingerprinting, which
would be
kept in dealers' records and subject to inspection by the Department of
Justice. Lastly,
mail order ammunition sales would be
prohibited.
SB585,
introduced
by State Senator Mark Leno (D-3), would prohibit
the sale of firearms and ammunition on the property or inside the
buildings
that comprise the Cow
Palace.
In short, SB585 is a stepping-stone to banning gun shows on all
publicly-owned
property in California.
It
is imperative that you stand-up and respectfully
make your voices heard! Please contact the members of the
Senate Public Safety
Committee and urge them to oppose AB962.
Also, please contact the members of the Assembly Committee
on Public
Safety and insist that they defeat SB585.
Contact information can be found
below.
SENATE
PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE:
State Senator Mark Leno (D-3) – Chair
(916) 651-4003
senator.leno@senate.ca.gov
State Senator John J. Benoit (R-37) - Vice-Chair
(916) 651-4037
State
Senator
Gilbert Cedillo (D-22)
(916) 651-4022
State Senator Loni Hancock (D-9)
(916) 651-4009
State Senator Robert Huff (R-29)
(916) 651-4029
State Senator Darrell Steinberg (D-6)
(916) 651-4006
State Senator Roderick Wright (D-25)
(916) 651-4025
ASSEMBLY
COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY:
Assembly Member Jose Solorio (D-69) - Chair
(916) 319-2069
Assemblymember.solorio@assembly.ca.gov
Assembly
Member Curt Hagman (R-60) - Vice Chair
(916) 319-2060
Assemblymember.Hagman@assembly.ca.gov
Assembly
Member Warren T. Furutani (D-55)
(916) 319-2055
Assemblymember.Furutani@assembly.ca.gov
Assembly
Member Danny D. Gilmore (R-30)
(916) 319-2030
Assemblymember.Gilmore@assembly.ca.gov
Assembly
Member Jerry Hill (D-19)
(916) 319-2019
Assemblymember.Hill@assembly.ca.gov
Assembly
Member Fiona Ma (D-12)
(916) 319-2012
Assemblymember.Ma@assembly.ca.gov
I make no pretense at being a golfer - let me get that out right up front. But as they say, a bad day golfing is better than a good day working. THEY say that. I say that about fishing, which I prefer to golf, but if you can't go fishing, golf will do. Golf is another one of those 'sports' where you can drink while you're practicing it, or playing it or whatever it is you do with it. I like that in a sport. And unlike fishing where you have to haul your own supplies, in golf there's a sweet young lady that travels the course in the 'beer truck'. That's right - they bring it icy cold right to you. That puts it right up a notch above bowling - where you sometimes have to walk several feet to a bar.
There's also a lot of cussing in golf I've noticed. If you haven't been, here's what it sounds like in the T area:
Golfer
#1 - Thwack / sunava %}}@~.
Golfer #2 - Thwack / Mother 4w%%$3.
Golfer #3 - Thwack / {?**^> ball/club/wind.
Golfer #4 - Thwack / well you catch my drift.
Again, not really a negative to my mind. And golf cussing is pretty mild. Heck, I grew up in a mining town - those old boys had cussing down to an art form.
But
I digress - I do enjoy golf. I get my moneys worth when I golf because
I spend way more time on the course than the average bear
whiffing around in 3 or 4 hours in his brightly colored shorts
ensemble. If I don't start before noon, I might as well take along a
sleeping bag and some freeze dried grub. If I had
glow-in-the-dark balls I'd be a happy man - I could play all night. (That may have come out
wrong.) Actually, when I lived in Minnesota I played with bright orange balls, which makes them very easy to see and hard to lose. (again, don't go there). When I moved to California some
a** took pains to point out that those were 'snow balls' - orange so
you could play in the snow. Only a total doofus would sport them in
SoCal.
Thank you very much Mr. Chartreuse Shirt Man.
I also feel it's my tribute to the designer of the course, to come to know the intricacies he designed into the course. They planned those big sandy areas, trees, rivers and lakes all for our enjoyment yet most golfers only try to avoid them. They also placed courses in beautiful wildlife areas and it's fun to explore the surrounding flora (& fauna). You don't even want to know how many homes I've 'come in contact with' playing Bear Creek. (Thwack / Krink - that's the sound of a well driven ball off a Spanish Tile roof).
But
it's always a pleasure to play for a good cause and this past Saturday
we had an opportunity to do just that. I'd never played Cross Creek
before and it is a gorgeous course lying in a bowl surrounded by oak
and avocado trees and, in the distance, some exquisite homes. It's a
very unforgiving course too, I might add. Keeping score as I do is a
function of balls
lost X
beer
consumed / good company =
score.
Others keep a more numerically based algorithm which only
works for me when I play a scramble or best ball event. Again,
assuming I'm with 2 or 3 other people who know what they're
doing.
My son and I enjoyed an afternoon with friends Mike & Eric - who carried our team to a 7 under finish. I never thought I'd experience that pinnacle in a tournment that did not allow Mulligans. And we scored honetly, not like those pikers that claimed they shot 60.
The
event was 'Driving to Beat
Autism' with Our Nicholas Foundation.
The foundation was started by Mark & Kathy Anselmo to honor
their son Nicholas. While researching what they could on the topic
after their son was diagnosed, they discovered a dire shortage of
information, of the tools necessary for teaching & therapy, and
funding for research & basic classroom necessities.
One of Our Nicholas Foundation's early successes has been their Peer Buddies Program which integrates special ed students with 'typical' students in a classroom environment. It has fostered compassion and understanding among the student population while providing a sense of well being and inclusion for the autistic.
They are also developing an extensive Autism Resource Library and can provide parents with local resource guides. Having experienced a 400% increase in autistic students enrolled in local classes in just the last 4 years shows the critical need for the products, services and research needed to enrich the lives of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.
If you or anyone you know has been touched by autism and would like to find out more about this amazing organization, please contact www.OurNicholasFoundation.org
I'll be posting more specifics for you from our Sacramento Legislative trip last week, but just wanted to share a couple observations.
Wednesday was Legislative Day. In addition to our CAR Directors, we always bring up a few folks with us for that day - folks who have made an investment in our Realtor Action Fund of at least $197. It's always a great day - including a terrific speech by former (and future?) Governor Jerry Brown, legislative updates from our lobbyists, our march on the capitol photo op, visits with our Legislators and the Capitol Reception in the evening. For people who only think real estate is about selling houses, you should come with us next year.

(If you're curious, I'm 6th row back, 22nd from the right, next to Frank Nelson)
That same Wednesday, the Assembly had a deadline for closing out their docket because anything that wasn't passed to the Senate, either dies or reverts to a two year bill. Needless to say it was hectic and our schedules had to remain flexible as we sought to discuss our housing agenda with our electeds. Assembly Member Kevin Jeffries was literally on lock-down until the bills got passed and had been so all week. He managed to visit with us outside the chambers for a few minutes and joined us later at the reception after they had completed the session.
And there-in lies the tale. Between seeing Assemblyman Jeffries and our reschedule with Senator Hollingsworth, we had an hour to spare. So we sat down in the basement coffee shop in the Capitol and had a soda. They have several TV's on the walls all broadcasting the current floor session. There were about a dozen of us talking and laughing about the days adventures. After about 5 minutes the folks fell silent - consumed by what they were seeing on TV. Over the span of the next 45 minutes we saw 19 bills passed. With one exception - every one of the bills passed on a 42 - 22 vote, (+/- 2). Not only were these bills passed hastily and on strict party line votes, virtually every bill involved some sort of spending or new committee creation.
After having their asses handed to them on our May 19 Proposition vote, these Assembly Democrats still don't get the message on spending. They can't help themselves. It was a real eye opener for our political neophytes who have never seen the process up close and personal. It's times like that I'm reminded of Otto von Bismarck's caution that - 'People should never see either sausages or laws being made'. It's true - I've seen both and don't advise it. The difference is with sausage you can just avoid consuming the product if it's too unpalatable. With legislation, regardless of your efforts, you are forced to partake - and it's generally going to cost you more money or less freedom.
You should be pleased to note that both Assembly members Jeffries and Nestande consistently had their votes tabulated among the paltry smattering of 'red' votes. The Assembly considered over 1,000 new pieces of legislation this session in spite of getting a late start. It took them 5 months to consider and vote on the first 500 bills, only 5 days to consider and vote the last 500. Is it any wonder we're in the shape we're in?
The Senate only produced about 1/4 that many bills in this first session. Here's hoping the Senate is somewhat more in touch with Californians than 2/3 of their Assembly counterparts are when they sit down to consider the truckload of crappola the Assembly is delivering to them.
Oh, the one bill that didn't pass 42 - 22? It was a bill introduced by Speaker Karen Bass. The Speaker does not come on the floor to introduce her own bills - she sent it in with a messenger. They trick to this one? They first had to waive the 1 day read rule. That means within the span of 2 - 3 minutes
Honest. And the vote was unanimous. They musta been a shell-shocked as we were.
If you've never seen the process by which our state is governed, take your tax rebate and book a trip to Sacramento. Maybe by witnessing first hand the fiscal depravity which our leaders display, the wanton pandering to special interests and (in some cases) their shocking lack of command of the English language, you will come to undertand how we arrived at the brink of collapse. Hopefully you will come to the conclusion that, in good conscience, you CANNOT continue to vote the same incompetent louts back into office time and again.
Or not.
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
Powered by the ActiveRain Real Estate Network
© 2009 ActiveRain Corp. All Rights Reserved