Will Disarming People be the Solution?
Hearings surrounding “Gunpocalypse,” the group of anti-gun bills are being heard in the California Legislature this morning by various committees in the State Senate and Assembly.
PWG breaks down AB 2607, authored by Assembly member Phil Ting to dramatically expand who can request a Gun Violence Restraining order.
Firearms are Tools to Protect Oneself!
The California Legislature is at it once again.
You now the existing law that was enacted this past January? The one that restricts those with domestic violence restraining orders from having a gun or ammunition?
Well, lawmakers are looking to expand that law, so your boss, your colleague, a mental health worker can make one phone call and have your firearms taken away.
While the basis for this law is geared toward keeping victims of domestic violence safe, unfortunately, government overreach takes it one step further.
“We all have the right to work and not get killed that day and AB 2607 will be a tool to help us achieve that,” said Phil Ting, Democratic Assembly member of San Francisco.
Ting is the author of Assembly Bill 2607 and uses the San Bernardino massacre as an example of working with someone disturbed.
However, no one saw the warning signs until it was too late.
So is the notion of disarming more people really the solution?
“There’s certainly the potential for abuse,” said Wesley Kim Jr. a San Diego based Attorney specializing in Family Law.
Kim said the original law passed in January was created to address the sort of gaps in restraining orders.
“It gave those people the option of going to police and saying, ‘I believe this person is in danger to themselves or other people,” Kim explained.
The issue is that while this law says the confiscation is temporary, many times, it’s hard to discredit these “what-if” scenarios.
“There is a safeguard in the law that knowingly false filing false complaints and restraining orders is considered a misdemeanor,” said Kim.
But unfortunately, not everyone is honest. So if you’re up against someone who gets away with fabricating a story, you lost your Second Amendment right for at least a year, if not indefinitely.
“Your history does matter,” Kim stressed.
Anything you post online, texts, emails can all be used against you.
“If you’re thinking of posting something on Facebook or texting something or posting anything on social media where there’s going to be a digital trail, you really need to think twice because that lasts forever and it’ll follow you around and invariantly show up in the most inopportune times,” Kim said.
Kim sheds light on the fact that firearms are merely tools and it’s the conscious of the gun owner that matters.
This bill is still pending in the California State Legislature as we speak. So whether you’re for or against the bill, now is the time to contact your representatives.
