The Santa Clarita Diet

No, not that one. This is the diet where you cut back on your liberty in hopes that criminals won’t be able to get guns to use in crimes.

You are supposed to agree to laws requiring background checks be performed before the private sale of a firearm…even though they already have that in Santa Clarita. California enacted universal background check laws some time ago. Never mind that the Saugus High School killer could not have legally possessed a handgun under either Federal or state law in the first place, much less purchase one for himself.

You are supposed to agree to laws banning so-called assault weapons…even though one was not used in Santa Clarita. Besides, California already has some of the nation’s tightest restrictions on semiautomatic rifles; they are rigidly defined, with most types being completely banned, and those which are allowed must be registered. And as we all know, registration always leads to confiscation. (Just ask a gun controller why registration is useful, and see if some variation of the phrase “so we can come take them” doesn’t find its way into their answer.)

You are supposed to agree to safe storage laws…even though they already exist in Santa Clarita.

You are supposed to agree to laws governing homemade guns…although they already apply in Santa Clarita.

The bottom line is that although some would have us adopt the liberty diet that Santa Clarita has been on for some time…it doesn’t seem to be all that effective.