Gee, Ya Think?
Firearms Industry Remains Critical of Governor Following Press Conference on Ammunition Bill
Facing his lowest approval ratings (27 percent) in his six years as governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) today attempted to mitigate fall-out from his decision to sign into law legislation (AB 962) he vetoed just five years earlier establishing ammunition registration in the Golden State. The governor claimed his flip-flopping on the issue was based on public safety, a far cry from his veto statement in 2004 when he called such burdensome regulations “simply unworkable” and of “no public benefit.”
The California Association of Firearms Retailers (CAFR) and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) – the trade association for the firearms and ammunition industry – have remained highly critical of the governor’s acquiescence to the gun-control lobby, using his own statistics against him.
NSSF has estimated that AB 962 would cost California at least $2.92 million annually in lost sales taxes and $629,000 in increased operating costs for state agencies. Lost retail sales in California were estimated at $35.7 million.
This will no doubt drive some retailers out of business. Hopefully, many of them will migrate to states that are more American in their outlook on freedom, privacy, and common sense.
Not just retailers. A lot of the hard working, law abiding middle class are leaving this state for sunnier pastures as it becomes clearer and clearer that things will never get better. This was the worst economic downturn in sixty years, and all the state did was beg borrow and steal to patch up the deficit, so they can squeak by and start spending again as soon as times start to get better. No one in charge here is inclined to learn the least bit of lesson as far as the upper limits of taxation goes. And the people that foot the bill are getting pissed off and leaving. My parents did so. A good friend of my father moved to Texas, because he’s sick of California and is selling a business he created and doesn’t want to be punished by California for the privilege.
The future does not look bright here, as the middle and upper class that foots the tax bill leaves and gets replaced by more poor immigrants, legal and illegal. It’s going to be hard to tax the poor enough to pay all those entitlements to the other poor.