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California's Gun 'Safety' Law Unsafe, Law Enforcement Alliance Says Susan Jones, CNSNews.comThe Law Enforcement Alliance of America is blasting California Gov. Gray Davis for signing a gun control bill that effectively bans the sale of many new handguns commonly used by law enforcement officers and citizens for self-defense. The bill Davis signed this week requires all semiautomatic handguns sold in California to be equipped with magazine disconnects and chamber indicators by 2007. Gun control advocates call them "safety" devices, but gun owners say just the opposite. "The law enforcement community expressly rejects the "magazine disconnect" feature, as it seeks to disable the firearm during a magazine change, a potentially life-threatening result for an officer in a shoot-out," LEAA noted. In fact, the bill Davis signed exempts law enforcement from the requirements, but the mechanical devices would be required on guns that officers buy for their own private use. According to LEAA, the new law exposes California law enforcement and taxpayers to additional liability risk, because it defines guns lacking magazine disconnects and chamber load indicators as "unsafe guns." "As a result, nearly every single handgun used by California law enforcement officers will be officially defined as an 'unsafe handgun,' a notion certain to be exploited in lawsuits involving police use of firearms," LEAA said in a press release. But on the other side of the argument, wire reports quoted Jane Roth, president of the Million Mom March's California State Council, as saying the new law would save lives, particularly those of children, and "prevent further accidents." By signing the bill, Davis signaled "the sheer desperation of the final days of his administration," LEAA said. The group urged Davis' successor in the presumably successful Oct. 7 recall election to reconsider "this ill-advised and misleadingly promoted law." LEAA describes itself as the nation's largest coalition of law enforcement professionals, crime victims, and concerned citizens dedicated to making America safer. Other supporters of the Second Amendment expressed their opposition to the law on the grounds that mechanical safety devices can give people a false sense of security. The best advice, they say, is to treat every gun as if it is loaded, regardless of what the chamber load indicator says. Copyright CNSNews.com
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