Calif. seizes 1,200 firearms possessed illegally

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Calif. seizes 1,200 firearms possessed illegally

By DON THOMPSON

Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- California law enforcement agents have seized 1,200 firearms from people who cannot legally own them because of mental illness or restraining orders.
However, Attorney General Kamala Harris said Thursday that more than 34,000 handguns and nearly 1,600 assault weapons are still believed to be held statewide by people who should not have them. [ Seized? As in kick the door down with a SWAT team seized? The other thing to note is restraining orders can strip you of your 2A rights. Amazing huh? ]

Most people bought the weapons legally but were later prohibited from owning guns.
But 12 people were arrested on suspicion of illegally owning assault weapons or grenades during a six-week sweep by the state Department of Justice in April and May.

Harris said 90 percent of the people who had guns seized were barred from owning weapons because of mental illness and 10 percent because of restraining orders or convictions usually related to domestic violence. [ Mental illness by whose definition? If I pitch a hissy fit because I'm having a bad day on the job, and my boss suggests I seek some counseling on handling stress; does that make me a "looney tunes" and cost me my gun rights? ]

"They were known to be a danger to themselves or society," Harris said. "We obviously have put a dent in that, but there is a lot more work to do." [ If they're truly a danger to themselves, why aren't they in a rubber room already? ]

She used a news conference at the California Highway Patrol's Sacramento headquarters to promote SB819, a bill that would expand the use of a $25 registration fee collected by gun dealers to pay for the department's Armed and Prohibited Persons System. [ This reminds me of making condemned men dig their own grave. The fishing license I begrudgingly pay for also funds the wildlife officer who comes out and hassles me when I'm peacefully fishing somewhere! ]

The system was created 10 years ago to cross-reference five databases to find people who legally bought guns and registered assault weapons but are now barred from owning the weapons.
It has found nearly 18,000 people who shouldn't have weapons. [ That's five databases that are probably like every other government database: chock full of errors! But that's what they'll use to strip you of rights the Declaration of Independence says are "inalienable" ]

However, Harris said local law enforcement and state agents don't have the time or personnel to track down their addresses and conduct the high-security operations needed to safely seize the guns from people who are presumed to be dangerous. Many of them own more than one weapon. [Oh but it won't be long before they WILL find some revenue source that will provide them with the ability to conduct those wonderful little "high-security operations" that these power mad son's of bitches crave! ]

The last time California conducted a similar sweep was in 2007, when a third as many weapons were seized. [ Read that to mean they are doing three times as many seizures as they were in 2007 ]

The bill being carried by Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, would let Harris seek to use nearly $1 million from a $5.5 million surplus in the registration fee account to train local police and hire five more state agents to aid the 20 already assigned to the firearms program. [Ahhh there's that additional enforcement revenue we were talking about! ]

"Resources are needed to do this type of work," Leno said against a backdrop of seized weapons.
[ It's God's work and we need to be about it - FOR THE CHILDREN! ]

"How many lives are going to be saved?"

[ How many lives are going to be LOST when they start kicking down the doors of folks like me who ARE paying attention, and have NO INTENTION of being disarmed? ]

His bill cleared the Senate and is awaiting a hearing in the Assembly Public Safety Committee on Tuesday

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GR4U - First of all, you'd never catch me living in the socialist paradise of California. But this nonsense is coming to the rest of the country soon enough. I pray to God Almighty that when it's my turn, I give a good accounting of myself.