Alphecca

CA Considering More Gun Control

Specifically, it would be a crime to store your gun in the same location as the ammo if "a child" could find it. And all guns would have to be under lock and key. From the Record Searchlight:

Some in the north state are giving a cool reception to legislation that would make it a misdemeanor to store guns where children could easily find them.

The bill also would allow district attorneys to file either felony or misdemeanor charges for keeping firearms in the same place a child could find their ammunition.

The bill is opposed by Patrick Jones, manager of the Jones Fort gun shop in Redding and president of the Redding Gun Club.

How they voted Here is how state Sen. Sam Aanestad, R-Grass Valley, and Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, voted on key legislation that faced Senate floor votes Thursday.

Aanestad voted against AB 2644, which limits engine idling by school and transit buses to five minutes an hour. It passed 21-14 and was returned to the Assembly for amendments. LaMalfa voted against it in May.

Aanestad voted against AB 858, which bans the use of Redskins as a school mascot name. It won 17-12 but failed to get the needed 21 votes for passage; it will receive a second vote later. LaMalfa voted against it in January.

"You're already civilly liable for anything you do, but now they want to make it criminal," Jones said. "We already have certain laws in effect right now. If you keep a loaded firearm and a person under 18 obtains it and uses it resulting in injury or death, you could be found guilty of a misdemeanor or a felony. ... Now they're taking it one step further."

Shasta County Public Health Director Marta McKenzie believes the law is unnecessary.

"There's enough punishment to a family on anemotional level if something happens to their kid," McKenzie said. "I'm not sure (the bill) is the right approach."

I'm all for safe storage of firearms in homes where young children are present. But the definition of safe storage has to be the firearm owner's, not the state's. I think education would be a far better approach to the problem, not just piling on more criminal charges. And what if it's a teenager who breaks into the home and steals the gun? Would the firearm owner still be criminally negligent if he didn't have the gun locked up and seperate from the ammo?

For folks without children, keeping a loaded gun about is just common sense. You need that gun ready to rock if an intruder breaks in. This proposed legislation would pretty much make that gun all but useless.