So says Assemblyman Steve Knight, R-Palmdale, about the new California law requiring a thumb print and a driver’s license to purchase firearm ammunition while Gun stores are preparing for ammo restrictions

The most important piece of the new law, which has already drawn the ire of the National Rifle Association and some Republican lawmakers, is a requirement that anyone purchasing handgun ammunition provide his or her name, address, phone number and thumbprint. Gun stores will have to keep those records – which also include the type, brand and amount of ammunition sold to customers – and allow police to go through them.

This won’t stop anyone from buying ammo. All it will do is provide an after-the-fact paper trail for someone to follow if necessary. So make sure that everyone realizes that this can do nothing whatsoever to prevent any crimes.

Let’s say that a determined killer needs ammo for his illegal hand gun. He goes to Wal-Mart, shows his ID and gives a thumb print, buys his ammo, and kills ten people. Later, the police can track the purchase down and find out that he bought two boxes of ammunition.

Wow. That’s going to take a bite out of crime.

“The bad guys always seem to get what they need, but we keep making it harder and harder for law-abiding citizens,” [Assemblyman Curt Hagman, R-Chino Hills] said of the new law, which Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law last week. The statute takes effect Feb. 1, 2011.

All this can do to help is to make sure that government officials can track down law-abiding individuals if it wants to.

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.

Reason.com: Scenes From a Crackdown by Radley Balko

It should be clear that Murdoc is strongly opposed to the anarchists and so-called “progressives” that show up to demonstrate at things like the G20 Summit or the deployment of a Stryker brigade. The majority of these people appear to be idiots.

But a number of disturbing images, videos, and witness accounts have come out of Pittsburgh, as well as from similar high-stakes political events in recent years, that reveal the disquieting ease with which authorities are willing to crush dissent—and at the very sorts of events where the right to dissent is the entire purpose of protecting free speech. That is, events where influential policymakers meet to make high-level decisions with far-reaching consequences.

I’ve got no beef with quasi-military tactical teams when they’re used for things that require quasi-military tactical teams. But it sure seems like we see far too many camouflaged cops with automatic weapons doing things that ordinary cops in ordinary police department uniforms could and should be doing.

And, honestly, if the anarchist jackasses aren’t causing actual harm and breaking actual laws, the requirements for even ordinary cops should be less than we often seem to see. (via Instapundit)

Links Between Brady & MAIG Established

Got this in the mail today from the NRA-ILA and here are Murdoc’s answers:

NRA-ILA's 2009 Michigan TAG Poll

No real surprises except for maybe #8, in which I marked “undecided” about a “no-net-loss” law for hunting land. I favor the idea in principle and certainly support hunting and other outdoors activities, but I guess I’m also a bit hesitant to put something like this into law. I can imagine that my answer there won’t sit well with everyone.

Also, I’ve got to admit that I can’t send as much of a donation as I’d like to one this one. Things are tough, and Michigan is tougher than most. I’m fortunate enough to have a relatively secure job these days, but that doesn’t mean the wheelbarrows full of cash have started rolling in yet.

S&W Equips Police in Mexico

Smith & Wesson Corp., the legendary 157-year old firearms maker, announced today that it has commenced shipments of its M&P15 tactical rifles to Mexico’s Secretary of National Defense. The duty firearms will be distributed to police agencies including the Commission Federal de Electricidad (Federal Commission of Energy) and El Gobierno del Distrito Federal (Police of Federal District of Mexico).

Smith & Wesson has supplied 820 of its M&P15 tactical rifles to the Police of the Federal District of Mexico, as well as 1,500 of its M&P15 rifles to Mexico’s Department of Energy. The company has commenced armourer’s training for each agency, as well as range training for those specialized officers who will be authorized to carry the new patrol rifles.

The cynic in Murdoc wonders how long it will take for one of these to somehow turn up at a drug gang crime scene and be blamed on lax US laws about “assault weapons.”

Via Caleb

“Planes. As in plural.”

Sebastian has a great Comparison of Reid to some others who have decent ratings from pro-gun organizations.

Honestly, I’m more than a bit surprised.

Gun rights, control groups find fight in health debate

Not sure if I’m buying this all the way, but I can see that it could become an issue with centralized health records and government heavy-handedness regarding what’s healthy and what’s not:

“And then you end up having a gazillion people lose their gun rights because of some medical record that someone doesn’t like, where they say, ‘Oh, that might be a danger to their self or others.’ No trial, no due process, just gone.”

This is brilliant.

One thing I wonder about, though, is the amount of exposure with the general population this will get. Sure, it’s showing up on lots of gun blogs and lots of Conservative blogs, but that’s mostly preaching to the choir.

Legacy Media has lost its monopoly but it still retains a lot of its power. While we laugh about this and rightly congratulate those who put it together and spread the word, we need to remember that the biggies are still biggies. Things are changing (mostly for the better) but they’ve got a long ways to go.

I still maintain that gun owners should proceed with caution when it comes to open carrying to political events like this, but it sure is nice to see some liars de-fanged so effectively.

Via Sebastian.

UPDATE: Americans for Limited Government is calling for heads.