Vice President Of Deputy District Attorneys Association Blasts Newsom Initiative

“Ammo Police Are Not The Answer To California’s Gun Crimes”

On January 20, 2016, the Vice President of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys, which represents nearly 1,000 Los Angeles Deputy Attorneys, published an article lambasting California Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom’s anti-gun rights ballot initiative that he is hoping to qualify for the 2016 California general election.  The article, titled ‘The “Ammo Police” Is Not The Answer to Criminal Use of Firearms,’ reveals how Newsom’s misguided public relations stunt misses the mark on public safety, and instead harshly restricts the ability of law-abiding citizens to acquire and use ammunition in self-defense.

As the article explains, the initiative “will do nothing to prevent mass shootings in this state, nor will it have any positive effects on the safety of California Residents.”  The ADDA Vice President acknowledged that the initiative “will have a detrimental impact on law-abiding gun owners” and “seems designed to raise Newsom’s public profile.”

The article also raises serious concerns about the real world impacts of the initiative’s ammunition transfer restrictions and its total ban on the possession of standard magazines capable of holding more than ten rounds.  “Will Newsom create a new ‘ammunition police’ to arrest everybody who lends ammunition to a friend or who takes home leftover ammunition purchased while at a range?  Will police officers be required to inspect the ammunition of people leaving a range to try to determine what was purchased at the range and what was purchased at a gun store?”  Perhaps worse, “Californians who have legally purchased and possessed standard capacity magazines for decades will now be criminals and subject to lengthy jail sentences even though they have never used those magazines in any crime and possess those magazines in their homes and business for self-defense purposes.”

And make no mistake, the law-abiding will be the only ones impacted by the magazine ban.  As the experienced Vice President of the ADDA knows all too well, “Criminals who are willing to commit murder will not be deterred by laws making it a misdemeanor to possess magazines with a capacity over 10 rounds.  Imposing these restrictions on law-abiding Californians accomplishes nothing.”

The article concludes by noting that it is bad public policy “to enact measures which will not accomplish the goals they claim.”  “Enacting ill-thought out laws that disproportionately affect law-abiding gun owners will make criminals of us all.”  Indeed it will.

This article is the latest example of a growing trend of law enforcement acknowledging the failures of policies pushed by the gun ban lobby and anti-gun politicians looking to grab the spotlight by capitalizing on tragedy.  Stay tuned for further alerts about Newsom’s ballot initiative and the legislative fight in Sacramento during this critical year for Second Amendment rights!