king of morons

Otherwise known as the Governor of Kalifornistsan, Arnold Schwarzenegger decided yesterday to demonstrate a level of ignorance and stupidity that may be difficult for his future successors to beat.
You all remember California Assembly Bill 1471 – the bill that would, starting January 2010, require all semiautomatic (but only semiautomatic) pistols to have a microscopic set of characters that identify make, model, and serial number of the pistol engraved on its firing pin, chamber, or other internal surface such that each cartridge fired from the pistol would be imprinted with those characters? You know, the “microstamping” concept that was found to be quite faulty by a University of Kalifornistan school, no less? The technology that could be circumvented with the momentary application of sand paper, harder metals (like your house key), or a rock? The bill that only affects semiautomatic pistols, and not revolvers – which, by the way, chamber the same exact rounds as semiautomatic pistols, and many people argue are more powerful since some of the bullet’s energy is not used to cycle the slide? Legislation that would make getting replacement firing pins – one of the first things to fail in a firearm – that much more difficult, since it would have to be serialized and engraved? In the end, a law entirely designed to inconvenience and better control law-abiding firearm owners, and one that will, in all likelihood, have absolutely no affect upon crime or criminals, since they will just either procure their firearms illegally, or use quite simple work-arounds (remember, everyone, criminals do not follow laws – hence the word “criminal”)? The moronic concept that leads to a not-even-de-facto firearm registry… and we all know where that slippery slope ends?
Yeah, I thought you might.
Well, our esteemed Governator went and signed the damned thing into law yesterday.

To the Members of the California State Assembly:

I am signing Assembly Bill 1471.

While I appreciate and understand that this technology is not without limitations, I am
signing this bill to provide law enforcement with an additional tool for solving crimes
committed with semi-automatic handguns in California.

Public safety is one of the most important roles of government and I encourage all
stakeholders to work on improving this technology so that it may become an even more
effective crime fighting tool.

Sincerely,

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Now, being the kind and considerate soul I am, I thought I would take the opportunity to put into writing what Arnold really meant to say:

To the Members of the California State Assembly:

I am demonstrating my intentional ignorance concerning all things crime-related, and signing into law a pointless bill (Assembly Bill 1471) that will have absolutely no impact on the criminal elements of California, while simultaneously making the lives of those law-abiding individuals in our state that much more miserable.

While I appreciate and understand that this technology is inherently flawed, easily overcome or bypassed, and effectively useless, I am signing this bill to put forward the image that I am being tough on crime, without having to actually do anything risky or dangerous, like actually being tough on crime, and therefore threatening any possible chance I have of reelection in the future.

Public safety is one of the most important roles of the government, and due to this, it is my job to ensure the government tells you, the citizens of our fair state, exactly what is safe and what is not. It does not matter whether or not what we tell you is accurate, honest, or realistic – we are the government, and it is our job to make up your minds for you. And, of course, since we all know that firearms are inherently unsafe, despite only 0.3% of firearms being used in crimes every year, it is our eventual goal, for the betterment of the citizenry’s livelihoods and safety, to ensure that no one is capable of legally owning a firearm in the state of California, with AB 1471 being a significant step in that direction. Finally, this law will convince criminals to finally obey the rule of law, and stop owning firearms and killing, robbing, raping, and otherwise detrimentally affecting their fellow citizens.

Yours always,

Arnie Schwarzenegger

Arnold, you can thank me sometime later. I realize, what with the vagaries and oddities of politics as they are, that you, yourself, could not put those words to paper… Thank Heaven people like me exist.
So what am I going to do about this situation? Unfortunately, there is not a damned thing I can do. If I know I will be stuck here in Kalifornistan after the date imposed by the legislation, something tells me I will be stocking up before then, but hopefully (and I really do hope) I will have escaped by then. However, if I were a firearm manufacturer, something tells me I would be following Mr. Ronnie Barrett’s lead in situations like this – stop selling to everyone within the confines of Kalifornistan… law-enforcement included. Yeah, that is not likely to happen, considering that Kalifornistan’s sizeable population leads to probably one of the biggest firearm markets in America, ironically enough. But one really has to wonder how much this legislation is going to cut into the firearm manufacturers’ profits… and whether it would really be that big of a loss.
In closing, screw Arnold, screw this idiotic law, and screw Kalifornistan. Intentional ignorance is something I simply will not tolerate, and you either have to be one of the most idiotic people alive to sign this bill into law thinking it will make a damned bit of difference, or you have to have blinders on the size of LA itself. And for those of you sitting back in your free America states laughing at us poor schmucks currently incarcerated in Kalifornstan, just remember it starts here… and stupidity always spreads… “for the good of the people”, after all.
Hat tip to Sebastian, who beat me to the punch. Captain of a Crew of One, War on Guns, and The Real Gun Guys, all have their takes on the situation as well.
1100 14OCT07 UPDATE: Just when you think the situation cannot get any more stupid in Kalifornistan with this recent development, it does:

“Mom and Dad” as well as “husband and wife” have been banned from California schools under a bill signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who with his signature also ordered public schools to allow boys to use girls restrooms and locker rooms, and vice versa, if they choose.

“We are shocked and appalled that the governor has blatantly attacked traditional family values in California,” said Karen England, executive director of Capitol Resource Institute.

“With this decision, Gov. Schwarzenegger has told parents that their values are irrelevant. Many parents will have no choice but to pull their children out of the public schools that have now become sexualized indoctrination centers.”

“Arnold Schwarzenegger has delivered young children into the hands of those who will introduce them to alternative sexual lifestyles,” said Randy Thomasson, president of Campaign for Children and Families, which worked to defeat the plans. “This means children as young as five years old will be mentally molested in school classrooms.

“Shame on Schwarzenegger and the Democrat politicians for ensuring that every California school becomes a homosexual-bisexual-transsexual indoctrination center,” he said.

Analysts have warned that schools across the nation will be impacted by the decision, since textbook publishers must cater to their largest purchaser, which often is California, and they will be unlikely to go to the expense of having a separate edition for other states.

The bills signed by Schwarzenegger include SB777, which bans anything in public schools that could be interpreted as negative toward homosexuality, bisexuality and other alternative lifestyle choices.

There are no similar protections for students with traditional or conservative lifestyles and beliefs, however.

(Emphasis added by me.) Where do I even start documenting just how patently ludicrous this is? Why was this law even considered, much less proposed, so much less passed? Yeah, it is gorramed great idea to allow pre-age-of-consent, not-legal-adult children to share bathroom facilities! Of course, it is perfectly resonable to disallow the use of “mom”, “dad”, “husband”, “wife”, and other obviously discriminatory words and phrases in Kalifornistan schools, despite those being massive sociological foundations for much of society!
Holy flying monkey turds on a stick… Where is this country headed?
0900 16OCT07 Update: David, over at Random Nuclear Strikes, has some interesting information concerning AB 1471. Not being terribly fluent in legalese, and not knowing a damned thing about patents, I cannot really comment on it, but if it turns out that this law cannot come into full force until 2023, that is fine by me. Of course, now as opposed to being an absolutely absurd law, now it is just an ineffective, pointless law, which I dislike almost as much. Laws like these weaken all the rest, simply by association.
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