# The California Attorney General wants to fuck up your Walther! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 11, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-california-attorney-general-wants-to-fuck-up-your-walther/303433 "2005-05-11T18:32:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-california-attorney-general-wants-to-fuck-up-your-walther/303433/61 "2005-05-12T12:46:16Z")
[quoteThis Year’s Model] I can’t bring beer into the park, why should I be able to bring a gun. This is an example of perfectly valid local control. [/quote] Wrong question. The question to be asked, is why _shouldn’t_ you be able to carry your concealed handgun in the park? After all, the law is written to _proscribe_ a specific activity that would be otherwise legal. If the law is written that way, then the justification and support for that law must follow the same path. \*“Why should this activity no longer be permitted?” If I were to try to get this law repealed, I’d have to justify why I want to be able to engage in this activity. I can’t simply turn the question around. And that’s what you’re doing here. You’re supporting proscription of an activity simply because you can’t find a reason to allow it to continue. If we start down the path of criminalizing activities simply because we can’t find a good reason to allow them to continue, where’s that leave us? Seems to me that kind of reasoning serves to lubricate the slippery slope. And not just regarding gun rights, but it could be equally applied to _all_ of your freedoms. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-california-attorney-general-wants-to-fuck-up-your-walther/303433/62 "2005-05-12T14:06:40Z")
> [@UncleBeer](#): > > Seems to me that kind of reasoning serves to lubricate the slippery slope. The slippery slope argument is particularly uncompelling to me. We can’t have gay marriage because people will be marrying their mules. We can’t legalize marijuana because all our kids will be heroin addicts the next day. We can’t have any gun restrictions because the government will just end up taking them all away. Sorry, I just don’t see it. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-california-attorney-general-wants-to-fuck-up-your-walther/303433/63 "2005-05-12T14:19:56Z")
I’m a gun owner. I’m also just about as anti-NRA as you can get. I think they’ve been taken over by nuts. I agree that this move by California is idiotic. As has been stated earlier, I can walk into a convenience store and leave with the makings of a silencer. I wonder how many Californians are contacting their out of state friends with ffls, and making a quick sale. Then, oh I dunno, buying it right back. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-california-attorney-general-wants-to-fuck-up-your-walther/303433/64 "2005-05-12T14:22:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Aw shit. And I’ve spent.wasted so much time defending some of them, thinking that one or two might be reasonable. To hell with it, I’m going Libertarian (the Leave Me The Hell Alone party). This is why I’m a Republican. It’s not, per se, that Republicans are always right (I currently think both parties are whizzing all over the budget in a way they didn’t a decade ago), but that I just can’t stand the Democrats on the national stage. Though if they put Phil Bredeson up, I’ll vote for him. Of course, if they put Phil Bredeson up, he’ll probably get the Republican nomination. 🙂 Of course, it’s also because they never seen to actually come up with any proposals. They criticize ours loudly, but don’t put forward any practical, workable plan for doing anything. But, aside from all of that hijacking, I hate the constant power grabbing from both parties. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-california-attorney-general-wants-to-fuck-up-your-walther/303433/65 "2005-05-12T14:45:41Z")
> [@](#): > > **This Year’s Model** said: > We can’t have any gun restrictions because the government will just end up taking them all away. Except that by lumping this in with two fallacies, you’re actually attempting to cast something that _has happened in the past, in the United States_ as a fallacy. Your assertion is inaccurate to say the least. Look at Chicago and Washington, D.C. which started with registration and then used the closing of registration to produce de facto bans. Look at California which used registration of ‘assault weapons’, then termed the SKS rifle an assault weapon, and used the list to round them up to enact a ban. It happens that registration is used to implement a ban, so your inclusion of it with the others is dishonest. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-california-attorney-general-wants-to-fuck-up-your-walther/303433/66 "2005-05-12T14:53:20Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > The slippery slope argument is particularly uncompelling to me. > > We can’t have gay marriage because people will be marrying their mules. > > Sorry, I just don’t see it. This just in [ticker tape noise] It has come to our attention that a particularly nasty and oustpoken spokesman for the antigay agenda (N. Horsly) has admitted to have been romantically involved with a mule. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-california-attorney-general-wants-to-fuck-up-your-walther/303433/67 "2005-05-12T14:56:29Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > This is why I’m a Republican. But, aside from all of that hijacking, I hate the constant power grabbing from both parties. I was a Republican, but then left them - back during the “moral majority” days. They haven’t improved since then either. They’re all (both major parties) power hungry hacks. (end of mini hijack) ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-california-attorney-general-wants-to-fuck-up-your-walther/303433/68 "2005-05-12T14:59:00Z")
> [@catsix](#): > > It happens that registration is used to implement a ban, so your inclusion of it with the others is dishonest. It takes a registration first, to find out where the suckers are, who registered. Then you know exactly where to go, when it’s time to sieze and confiscate. It’s an easy way to get your foot in the door. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-california-attorney-general-wants-to-fuck-up-your-walther/303433/69 "2005-05-12T14:59:54Z")
> [@UncleBeer](#): > > Wrong question. The question to be asked, is why _shouldn’t_ you be able to carry your concealed handgun in the park? Nope, the better question is why _shouldn’t_ you be able to carry **both** beer and a handgun in the park. Although, maybe not at the same time if you’re planning on drinking heavily. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-california-attorney-general-wants-to-fuck-up-your-walther/303433/70 "2005-05-12T15:16:35Z")
> [@UncleBeer](#): > > Yeah, they would. But the threads are external. Look at the picture I linked. (looking) Well, you gotta admit that, with so many locales associating threaded barrels with silencers and making them illegal, Walther should’ve thought of a better way to mount the counterbalance. > [@](#): > > Why? What do you hope to accomplish by having law-abiding owners give a list of their legally purchased and held items to the authorities? Silly boy, for the same reason I have to register my cars and dogs–so I can pay for the honor of owning them and be fined if I don’t pay. I would think that after all of your complaints about the predilection of Democrats to tax everything you might’ve realized there are other reasons for registration than as a prelude to confiscation. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-california-attorney-general-wants-to-fuck-up-your-walther/303433/71 "2005-05-12T15:17:21Z")
Heh. Can’t disagree with _any_ of that Neurotik. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-california-attorney-general-wants-to-fuck-up-your-walther/303433/72 "2005-05-12T15:26:49Z")
Good point, Drop. Dunno how I missed something so obvious. And, actually, that’s pretty much the case in California. While I was poking around yesterday, I found out that for the privilege of registering your handguns in California so “they” know where to come and get 'em later, you get to give the state $19.00 _per handgun_. That could get into some serious money seriously fast. I have a friend here who has recently been collecting little .25 & .32 autos. Says he’s got nearly a hundred of ‘em now. (When I asked him how many guns total he owned, he told me he had no friggin’ idea but it was probably about 300 - give or take fifty. He’s got more guns than most people have books.) That would approach _two grand_ in registration fees in California. And nineteen bucks would be a substantial percentage of the purchase price of some of those things - like 25% or more. ---
**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-california-attorney-general-wants-to-fuck-up-your-walther/303433/73 "2005-05-12T16:12:34Z")
This website says that a silenced gun “can be as quiet as 115 dB.” Is that accurate, gun mavens? That’s as loud as a rock concert! What good would such a device do a criminal? ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-california-attorney-general-wants-to-fuck-up-your-walther/303433/74 "2005-05-13T01:53:33Z")
115db? I gotta ask, since deciBels is always a noise level as referenced to something else, just what is the zero dB level? What is this 115dB referenced to? Other than that, I don’t even own any handguns anymore, and I’m against all this. I live in California (job, not choice) and all I’ve seen here is that the noisy know nothings seem to want to control and tax (or take away) everything. It’s sickening. ---
**Author:** ![Unregistered\_Bull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3da27b/32.png) [@Unregistered\_Bull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unregistered_Bull)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-california-attorney-general-wants-to-fuck-up-your-walther/303433/75 "2005-05-13T02:27:56Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > (looking) Well, you gotta admit that, with so many locales associating threaded barrels with silencers and making them illegal Besides California, what other locales ban the Walther P22 which was US legal even during the recently expired assault weapons ban? ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-california-attorney-general-wants-to-fuck-up-your-walther/303433/76 "2005-05-13T05:14:53Z")
The locales don’t matter. There is a certain group of people that hear “assault weapon” or “silencer” and imagine roving bands of armies taking over large cities. It’s akin to those that listen to a few whack jobs and think that homosexuals are out to destroy the republic. Both groups are using the same level of logic. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-california-attorney-general-wants-to-fuck-up-your-walther/303433/77 "2005-05-13T06:12:06Z")
> [@Neurotik](#): > > Nope, the better question is why _shouldn’t_ you be able to carry **both** beer and a handgun in the park. Although, maybe not at the same time if you’re planning on drinking heavily. Amen. Be darned if marauding beer thieves are gonna abscond with my hoppy libations. Molson & Taurus-they go together like Roy Rogers & Dale Evans. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-california-attorney-general-wants-to-fuck-up-your-walther/303433/78 "2005-05-13T11:33:44Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > Amen. Be darned if marauding beer thieves are gonna abscond with my hoppy libations. Molson & Taurus-they go together like Roy Rogers & Dale Evans. 😃 Molson, the beer from the country where handguns are not permittd in parks. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-california-attorney-general-wants-to-fuck-up-your-walther/303433/79 "2005-05-13T13:02:23Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > It’s akin to those that listen to a few whack jobs and think that homosexuals are out to destroy the republic. I hadn’t thought of that; but there do seem to be some similarities between homophobes and hoplophobes. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-california-attorney-general-wants-to-fuck-up-your-walther/303433/80 "2005-05-13T15:57:25Z")
It’s almost the same thing. Depending on whether it’s guns or gays, the story only changes slightly. “They” are going to run wild. “They” are going to destroy the country. “They” want to “recruit” your children. “They” hate you. There will be wild gun battles (or gay orgies) in the streets. It’s always “them” against “us”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-california-attorney-general-wants-to-fuck-up-your-walther/303433.md?page=3)