Proposal limiting California rifle sales angers Merced gun owners

A local gun shop owner said a proposed California law seeking to limit gun sales to one in a month is just “one in a long line” of efforts aimed at gun dealers.

Senate Bill 497 would extend limitations allowing a person to only buy one handgun a month to include long guns, such as rifles and shotguns. The bill passed the senate last week and is headed to the state assembly.

Gerry Mitchell, owner of the Gunrunner Gun Shop and Shooting Range, said California already has a mechanism in place to notify law enforcement if someone purchases multiple firearms at a time. The proposed law won’t prevent dangerous people from obtaining weapons, he said. The legislation just puts more responsibility on the shoulders of gun dealers.

“It’s becoming harder and harder to obey the law and try to make a living on top of that,” Mitchell said Tuesday. “They’re saying you can have them, but there’s so many rules attached that you can’t have them.”

Sen. Anthony Cannella, R-Ceres, voted against the bill.

“Rifles are almost exclusively used for target practice and hunting, whereas stolen handguns are more commonly used in gun-related crime,” Cannella said in a statement to the Sun-Star. “We should not add barriers to law-abiding citizens’ ability to use rifles for recreation.”

Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke agreed, saying the bill would create a new classification of criminals. “It’s creating a hardship for law-abiding citizens,” he said. “Law-abiding citizens should be able to buy as many guns as they want.”

People who follow laws aren’t the ones committing acts of violence with guns, Warnke said.

“This is just a feel-good piece that will do nothing to curb gun violence,” the sheriff said in a telephone interview. “The people who are going to do it are going to do it regardless.”

Yuri Lara, a Merced County resident, practiced with her husband and sister-in-law shooting their .22-caliber rifle at the Gunrunner range on Tuesday. Lara said her children are part of 4-H and often participate in trap shooting events and gun-safety education. She disagreed with the proposed legislation.

“If you have the money, why wouldn’t you buy more?” she said.

Another shooting range patron, 57-year-old David Lenahan, agreed with the proposed law.

“Who needs to buy five rifles at a time?” he said.

Mitchell said the proposed law, if passed, likely won’t stifle rifle sales at his shop. He said rifles make up less than 20 percent of his sales, mostly because of their price.

“It’s not that typical to buy more than one,” he said. “The days where you’ll find a $100 gun are gone.”

If people do wish to purchase more than one rifle at a time, typically it’s parents hoping to buy gifts for multiple children, he said.

“Firearms are the only product out there that I’m aware of where the state tells you how many you can buy,” Mitchell said. “There’s no objective here other than to go after gun dealers.”

This story was originally published June 6, 2017 at 5:11 PM with the headline "Proposal limiting California rifle sales angers Merced gun owners."