by Lt. Gov Gavin Newsom (D-CA) hopes to ride his Orwellian-named “Safety for All” initiative to the Governor’s Mansion in Sacramento. In addition to banning standard capacity magazines, it would mandate background checks akin to a NICS check just to buy ammunition. Moreover, it would ban the private sale or transfer of ammunition. The LA Times reports that much of the initiative wording came from the Legal Center to Prevent Gun Violence (sic).
It appears that Newsom’s professional signature gatherers have accumulated enough names to get it on the ballot in November. Once certified, the battle begins in earnest.
The Coalition for Civil Liberties is made up of a number of diverse groups with one objective in mind – defeat Newsom’s initiative. You have the NRA-affiliated California Rifle & Pistol Association on one end and the Gun Owners of California on the other with the Pink Pistols in the middle. You can’t get more diverse than that!
Women and the LGBTQ communities are traditional Democratic constituencies in California. The Coalition is taking aim directly at those groups to drive a wedge between them and the ammo prohibitionists. They gained a lot of attention with a web ad featuring Nicki Stallard, a trans-gendered woman, and a gun rights activist. (As an aside, I’ve met Nicki at more than one Gun Rights Policy Conference)
Now they are taking it to TV with a very powerful black and white ad featuring a woman being attacked in a parking garage. HotAir reports that Republican strategist Richard Grennell is behind the ad.
Frankly, I don’t care who is behind the ad. I’m just happy that it is so powerful.
