A Brief History…

By Bradley J. Fikes

A new law banning sale of mail order ammunition and requiring registration of handgun ammo purchases was thrown out Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2011) by a state judge in Fresno.

That’s the word from plaintiffs, at least. I haven’t found any stories from our friends in the MSM about the decision. Well, I did find one blog post from the LA Times time-stamped 7:32 p.m. More about that later.

The law, AB 962, was signed into law by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in October, 2009, according to the San Diego Union Tribune. It was scheduled to go into effect Feb. 1, according to the article.

Superior Court judge Jeffrey Hamilton ruled that the law was “unconstitutionally vague,” according to the California Rifle and Pistol Association, which joined with the National Rifle Association in the lawsuit to block enforcement of the bill.

Here’s another account of the action’s meaning, by C.D. Michel, a gun rights attorney.

“Constitutional vagueness challenges to state laws are extremely difficult to win, particularly in California firearms litigation so this success is particularly noteworthy.  Even so, an appeal by the State is likely, but the Court’s Order enjoining enforcement of the law is effective – February 1, 2011 – immediately regardless.”

While I couldn’t find any Associated Press story about the decision, that august news organization did run a story about a firearms industry show in Las Vegas.

Did the AP drag in Jared Laughner and solicit quotes from Democrats linking the firearms industry to criminal violence? Need you even ask?

The LA Times blog post mostly repeats what other bloggers said hours earlier. But there’s one nugget of new information:

“Sen. Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles), who authored AB 962, is considering his legal and legislative options, including a possible appeal, said Dan Reeves, his chief of staff.”

But does Kevin de León have legal standing to sue? IANAL, but from what I’ve read, the governor or attorney general hold that power in such cases. (In Proposition 8, Imperial County has appealed, but its standing has not been decided and is in serious question.)

The MSM has performed poorly here. The professional reporters got beat by those unkempt pajama-wearing bloggers (who truth be told, were sometimes much more professional and aware than the reporters). The Associated Press cranked out a template story linking the attack on Giffords to a gun convention, when it would have served the public better by covering Tuesday’s hearing, with its important ruling.

Yes, I’m a MSM reporter and believe the press can do a public benefit by providing accurate and impartial news to the public. But it’s awfully hard to make that case with the presence of agenda-driven reporters, busily at work presenting their left-leaning bias to the public under the guise of nonpartisan journalism.

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(DISCLAIMER: This article is my opinion, and not necessarily that of my employer, the North County Times).

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 19th, 2011 at 7:29 am and is filed under media, politics, social issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.