Kill those f-ing deer!
The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to ban large-capacity gun magazine possession on Tuesday. This means it will be illegal to own any gun magazine that holds more than 10 rounds.
Residents would have 60 days after the law takes effect to remove, sell or transfer such magazines from city limits in compliance with state law, or to surrender them to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The law would take effect 30 days after Mayor Eric Garcetti signs it, a move that he was "eager" to make, he said in a statement.
This makes Los Angeles the second city (the first being San Francisco) to pass a capacity ban on gun owners. There are two sides to this decision. The first is the proponents of the law that feel, at the very least, this is a gun control step that puts an
obstacle in the way of mass shooters.
Such magazines have been “the common thread” in almost all the mass shootings that have devastated the country, from Newtown to Virginia Tech to Columbine, said Juliet Leftwich, legal director for the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Backers of the plan said it was a small but meaningful step to minimize the bloodshed, by forcing attackers to at least interrupt their rampages to stop and reload.
The other side is the NRA. They believe this kind of law infringes on a citizen's Second Amendment rights. The right to hunt sporting animals by spraying 100 bullets into a forest in three seconds, or the right to stop black people from moving into your neighborhood by setting up a gatling gun.
The National Rifle Assn. and other gun rights groups have threatened to sue over Los Angeles’ new rules, arguing that they violate the 2nd Amendment and are preempted by existing state law.
In reaction, Councilman Paul Krekorian declared before a cheering crowd outside City Hall, “If the NRA wants to sue us over this, bring it on.”
Considering that the NRA and like groups have
not had much success of late with these types of legal maneuvers, don't expect this law to get reversed any time in the near future.