Enthusiasts in Atwater scoff at proposed gun laws

New gun regulations headed to the state Assembly this week were met with contempt from gun enthusiasts in Merced County.

A package of bills made it through the Assembly Public Safety Committee on Tuesday, moving a step closer to the prohibition of “bullet buttons” and semi-automatic rifles with a removable clip. The bills also would limit purchases to one gun per buyer every 30 days, which would treat long guns the same as pistols.

“That’s not where the problems are,” Joey Verna, a gun shop owner, said Thursday. “It’s not the law-abiding people causing the problems.”

Verna, who owns Stage Stop Gun Shop stores in Atwater and Mariposa, noted the 30-day period between purchases extends to any gun shop in the state but not to sales between private owners.

The new regulations would not only affect his right to own the guns, he said, but as a store owner it could hurt his bottom line.

“They’re always trying to make it harder and harder on the gun dealers,” he said. “It would definitely hurt.”

Assembly Bill 1664, by Assemblymen Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, and Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, would do away with the “bullet button,” what they argue is a loophole for manufacturers to evade the assault weapons ban in California.

“Military assault weapons have no place on our streets and gun violence must not be tolerated,” Levine said in a statement.

Assemblyman Miguel Santiago, D-Los Angeles, wrote Assembly Bill 1674 to cap gun sales to one per person per month.

“There are over 300 million guns in the United States,” he said in a statement. “That’s more than one gun for every man, woman and child. ... As a father, these statistics are terrifying.”

He also cited a 2007 Pennsylvania study that showed in April 2014 one person bought 177 guns in one transaction.

Sam Paredes with Gun Owners of California, a Sacramento-based organization, scoffed at the Pennsylvania study, saying it doesn’t compare with California.

He argued that the proposed bans are a reaction to rising gun sales in the state, saying 1.75 million were sold legally last year and 1.5 million the year before that.

“They’re throwing a hissy fit that Californians are buying guns at a record rate,” he said.

The proposed measures next move to another Assembly committee. Gov. Jerry Brown has questioned the need for stronger state gun controls, and vetoed similar bills in 2013.

The proposed bans were revived after the San Bernardino shooting in December that left 14 dead.

Joe Vieira, a retired Los Banos police officer who works in the Atwater gun store, said he was frustrated that California’s relatively strict gun laws could get tighter. In California, long-gun clips cannot be larger than 10 rounds.

“I’m OK with the 10-round limit,” he said, “but to just come outright and ban everything, you’re taking away the right for protection.”

This story was originally published March 3, 2016 at 5:47 PM with the headline "Enthusiasts in Atwater scoff at proposed gun laws."