McCarty To Gun Owners: “Say Cheese!”
OK, we were wondering when someone else – especially on the left side of the political spectrum was going to notice the spectacular privacy disaster of the bill to require your face be videotaped when buying ammo or a firearm.
The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) recently came out in opposition to Democrat Assemblyman McCarty’s AB 2459 and voila – he pulled the bill right before it was scheduled to be heard in Assembly Public Safety on Tuesday, April 4.
We usually don’t see eye-to-eye with the ACLU but when it comes to some issues, politics can make for pretty strange bedfellows. We have worked with them on issues of privacy and have come to respect their position on such matters and are pleased we’re on the same “no on AB 2459” page. Do we know what plans McCarty has for his bill? Will he amend it and try to make it slightly less distasteful? That remains to be seen, but this does not change the reality that this bill is an unadulterated catastrophe.
As we reported in February, there have always been a lot of goofy ideas that come out of the Legislature, and this one’s near the top of the nonsense chart. For all those liberals who buy guns but don’t want anyone to know, as Bobby “The Waterboy” Boucher says, “So that’s what opening up a can of whoop-a** feels like….”
AB 2459 requires surveillance everywhere – all places where firearms and ammunition is stored, displayed, carried…as well as all exterior surroundings, including parking lots. What if the parking lot is shared with a business that doesn’t want its customers recorded?
To many, this is not just an issue of privacy – it’s also an issue of security.
It’s worth noting again that Forbes reported a security researcher discovered it’s just not that hard to hack a video surveillance system—or more specifically the network video recorder to which it’s attached. The “research uncovered flaws in…devices that expose the surveillance system to denial-of-service, information disclosure, and other critical flaws—all without requiring authentication. The cameras…are typically connected to the Internet by design, and these critical vulnerabilities enable an attacker to hack into the system remotely from anywhere in the world.”
Wired Magazine has also reported on this, revealing some scary research about popular surveillance cameras being so open to hackers.
You’ve gotta be kidding!
On top of all that, the United States is actually one of the most insecure nations when it comes to security cameras! There are some truly creepy things one can find online on how to fiddle with a security monitor.
Finally, AB 2459 will put hundreds of honest, resident based gunsmiths and dealers out of business. Many of these individuals provide a necessary service to gun owners for routine maintenance and repair of weapons – whether for lawful modifications or simply to insure firearm safety. This bill is punitive and will place a devastating and needless economic burden on small business owners, who provide essential services especially in the more rural areas of California.
Comforting, isn’t it?