A cure for what ails ya

Some people, when life gets them down, go out and buy more accessories for their ARs.

Lucky bastard!

I hit the range again Wednesday for another lunch shoot, and it was nice & warm, not a cloud in the sky, a typical gorgeous California day. Is being able to shoot in short sleeves in February worth it when I can’t play with ARs and AKs like the other kids? I dunno….

Of course I could take Josh’s route and try to lawfully build an AR in California (!!!) by taking advantage of the slowness of the bureaucracy in keeping up with the variety of aftermarket receivers out there. Read here about the legal loophole everybody but me’s been jumping through.

Now, I’m a lawyer, and the legal reasoning looked fine to me. Only one thing kept me from following Josh’s lead and buying an “unlisted stripped lower receiver:” I’m chicken. I remember vividly from my time in the Capitol how single-minded the Democrat legislative staffers can be about their pet causes, meaning that I’d expect legislation to pop up real damn soon to address “all of these new assault weapons flooding our streets.” Something similar happened before (warning, link to Brady Bunch), and the downside then was confiscation of your previously-lawfully-owned firearm. I’m not too anxious to get on the wrong side of that sort of thing. 

Turns out my caution was for good reason: lo and behold, the Kalifornia DOJ is already changing the rules. Instead of ending up with a “second chance” to own a legally-registered California “assault weapon,” which would mean Josh could add all the nifty accoutrements his heart might desire, he’s gonna have something much worse — a lower receiver that must be neutered at all times, and may also be limited in what can be added to it. I feel for ya, dude!

The rest of us Californians are going to be limited to weak sisters of the AR such as the Kel-Tec SU-16 C, which is Kali-legal ’cause it doesn’t have the naaasty “pistol-grip stock.”  I actually like the looks of this gun, and may pick one up eventually, but I’m not kidding myself — it’s no AR.

Oh well, in my case I’m perking myself up with a pair o’ shotguns.