Why Don't They Repeal the Law of Gravity, Too?

San Francisco's mayor is hot to do something about guns--but it would help if they knew what the current laws are, I think:

Mayor Gavin Newsom quietly introduced a package of gun control measures on Tuesday that would make it illegal to possess guns on city-owned property and require residents to store handguns in locked containers.

Huh? You can't lawfully carry a loaded firearm in any city in California (including San Francisco) without a concealed carry license (Cal. Penal Code sec. 12031). You can't lawfully transport even an unloaded firearm except to or from a range, your home, a gun store or repair facility or a few other exceptional situations unless that gun is visible (Cal. Penal Code secs. 12025, 12026, and 12026.1). You can, theoretically, walk through San Francisco with an unloaded firearm, as long as it is openly carried. If you feel like giving it a try, tell us where you want the flowers delivered. The only thing that might prevent you from being shot to death by the San Francisco Police Department would be that they have such lousy aim. (I'm thinking of an incident some years ago where they fired over a hundred shots inside of a bank at a guy that was armed with a dummy grenade--and no gun.)

Cal. Penal Code sec. 12035 already makes it a criminal offense if a civilian:

keeps any loaded firearm within any premises that are under his or her custody or control and he or she knows or reasonably
should know that a child is likely to gain access to the firearm without the permission of the child's parent or legal guardian and
the child obtains access to the firearm and thereby causes death or great bodily injury to himself, herself, or any other person.
This isn't quite a requirement to keep a gun locked up, but it is already a pretty strong encouragement to keep the gun locked up.

But, even some of the legislation's co-sponsors conceded the proposals will have little effect on the proliferation of illegal guns on San Francisco streets.

Newsom, who plans to formally announce the measures at a press conference in the Bayview district today , said there "needs to be common sense restrictions on gun ownership."

"We should continue our efforts to restrict the use of legal guns and we will continue our efforts to stem the tide of illegal guns," Newsom said.

The measures would make it illegal to possess or sell guns or ammunition on any city-owned property, including parks and public buildings.

Huh? Penal Code sec. 12072(d) prohibits firearm transfers in California except through a licensed dealer or police department--with exceptions for antiques and within family. If there are people selling guns on public property in San Francisco, they are already breaking the law.

Though there is only one gun store located in San Francisco, the legislation targets licensed dealers by requiring them to provide police with an inventory list every six months so that authorities could keep track of how many guns are sold. "It's about that one gun shop and making a statement to anyone who's thinking about opening up," said District Attorney Kamala Harris, who is one of several politicians who have signed on to co-sponsor the legislation.

"It's focused on making it as inconvenient and as difficult as possible for people to possess guns in a way that people will be harmed," she added.

Let's see: to buy a gun in California--a handgun, a rifle, or a shotgun--you need to pass a background check and waiting period. And the requirements are actually pretty stiff:

Any person who has been convicted of a felony, certain misdemeanors, certain firearms offenses, who is addicted to narcotics, who is the subject of a domestic violence restraining order, or has been committed to a mental institution pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 8100, may not possess or have under his or her control any firearm. See Prohibiting Categories. PDF logo [PDF 10 kb / 1 pg] Certain federal statutes impose lifetime and other more restrictive prohibitions on firearm possession. Additionally, certain statutory conditions exist that allow for the possession of firearms but preclude the acquisition or purchase of additional firearms, such as the subjects of certain restraining orders and those under state or federal indictment.

It is already quite inconvenient to buy a gun in California, and it hasn't worked--so San Francisco wants to continue down a path that hasn't worked.

UPDATE: A reader who lives in the area points out that the ban on sales on public property is aimed at the Cow Palace gun shows. The Cow Palace is one of those weird situations where it is apparently partly in the City and County 0f San Francisco*, and partly in San Mateo County, but the land is entirely owned by the City and County of San Francisco*. But as this reader points out, if they had such a law--and used it prohibit sales by licensed gun dealers at the Cow Palace (who have to go through background checks and waiting periods), you can be sure it would never be used to prosecute criminals selling guns in city parks.

* The City and County of San Francisco is one of those weird little quirks of California--where they don't just engage in sexual perversion, but political entity perversion as well. California, like most Western states, has counties and cities. There are often several incorporated cities within a county, as well as large areas that are unincorporated, and thus under county control only. If you live in a city, the police department is supposed to protect you. If you live in the unincorporated part of the county, the sheriff's department is who you call. In some smaller cities in the state, the sheriff's department actually provides police services, and the deputy sheriff in charge is given the title of police chief. But that's relatively unusual.

San Francisco at some point expanded out so rapidly that there was nothing left within the County of San Francisco that wasn't also the City of San Francisco, so they merged together, into the California political equivalent of a transsexual. (This means that everywhere in California statutes where they refer to a "county" or "city" they have to throw the political entity pervert in as well: Cal. Penal Code sec. 148.3: "(a) Any individual who reports, or causes any report to bemade, to any city, county, city and county,...") There is a sheriff--but he pretty much runs the jail, provides protection to the courts and city hall, and serves warrants. Law enforcement is primarily done by the San Francisco Police Department. In most California cities, there is a city council and a mayor, and the county is run by a board of supervisors. In San Francisco, the county aspect wins out, mostly, and so they elect a board of supervisors (and among the most deranged elected officials that America has ever seen)--but they also elect a mayor.