Bought a Gun, Got a Letter from the Attorney General

I live in Los Angeles and recently bought my first hand gun, a few days later I got this letter in the mail:



While it may be easy to look at this letter and say, "well the city is just making sure you know and understand the laws and penalties associated with gun ownership," it is important to note that before I was able to purchase said firearm I had to take a 30 question (23/30 required to pass) handgun safety test at the cost of $25. Everything in this letter, including legal liabilities and sale/transfer laws, was covered in the test. This is not a friendly little reminder, this is intimidation. When I got my CA driver license I also had to take a test but I certainly did not get a letter a few days later reminding me of my responsibility to have insurance, obey the speed limit, and not drink and drive.

I also want to add that this letter is dated two days after my purchase. I had to wait ten days for my federal background check to clear yet within two days the city D.A. had already been made aware of my purchase and generated a letter. And people wonder why gun rights advocates are weary of these so-called universal background checks.

reply to post by DirtyD


Just feel safe in knowing that they now know your address, and in the name of safety and protection of the Homeland, that they will easily be able to find you and confiscate your weapon! That is what this whole bunch of garbage, "mmmmmkayyyy guns are bad" is all about.

Once they know who has them and where they live, confiscation will soon follow! History proves it!

reply to post by DirtyD


Well it is California. That State is run by idiots.
They actually planned their 2013 budget on the assumption that Facebook's IPO would generate them a whole bunch of cash.

I know it's unrelated, but it offers insight into the type of management that state is under.
I lived there for about 8 years, and am very happy I was able to escape when I did.

reply to post by seeker1963


Confiscation is already well underway in California. California Senate approves $24 million for gun confiscation program

And guess who's paying for this program?

The Senate voted 31-0 to approve an urgency bill that would take the $24 million over three years from a Department of Justice account funded by gun owners who pay a fee when they register their guns with the state.

You can't make this stuff up. Wow.

Clinical retardation must be a prerequisite for government work. A responsible, sane person needs no reminder about "responsible gun ownership" and the noodniks that are likely to shoot up a mall, school, church, etc wouldn't pay two-seconds worth of attention to such a letter. Who in the hell buys a gun, then needs a letter from the attorney general to say to themselves, "I have a weapon, maybe these fellows are correct, I should be really responsible." Waste of time, wast of money to send out a letter pointing out a self-evident concept. I agree, with you DirtyD, it smells of intimidation...or a really lame PR move...what else could it be?

reply to post by DirtyD


Is this your first purchase? It could be a letter they send for every purchase while the test is for all first-time buyers.

There are probably county and city ordinances that require the test but the state sends the letter anyway. I don't see a problem with it. I think it's important that gun owners know their responsibilities. I think it's a serious problem that people think it's ok to store loaded weapons in kitchen ovens and shoeboxes in their cloest.

oh yah no way they are keeping a list of everyone with guns.. oh wait how did they have your address... your on a list...

W O W!

So basically you had to play games 6 ways from Sunday just to GET a gun ..and then? You get a letter essentially telling you "You have a gun. WE KNOW you have a gun and we know precisely where you're at while watching carefully to see what happens with that gun".

George Orwell would have a fit and really say 1984 didn't go near far enough.

I often heard California referred to as "The People's Republic Of California". Or, the PRC for short. This sort of thing is precisely why. They have more in common with a land overseas than they do with most of the states in this nation.

I wonder...Does California let people just move out of state with their guns these days or have they found a way to follow with regulations that way too?

I can't take the ignorance...

Instead of speculation, research!

Here is the press release that includes an explanation of why the letters are being sent out.

Here is an official "sample" of the letter.

The Rand "fact sheet" referenced in the press release.

I have no sympathy for anyone who lives in a state, county, city or municipality the infringes upon their Second Amendment rights...

Move... It's that simple...

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
W O W!

So basically you had to play games 6 ways from Sunday just to GET a gun ..and then? You get a letter essentially telling you "You have a gun. WE KNOW you have a gun and we know precisely where you're at while watching carefully to see what happens with that gun".

Yes, the genius of the politicians: "We shall crack-down on the legal gun purchases, but meh, all those illegal blackmarket guns we can't do anything about them, so it's not worth the time and effort to put them on our mailing list."

And that my friends is the reason to MOVE THE HELL out of Ca, I just did that myself.

Let me tell you, there ARE far better places to live than the hell hole that is California, I lived there all my life and got sick of it, being taxed and nanny stated is not my Idea of a good time. Just getting to Oregon I noticed a 60 cent savings on gas alone per gallon.


Id send back a copy of the constitution to these un-american bastards.

Is this your first purchase? It could be a letter they send for every purchase while the test is for all first-time buyers. There are probably county and city ordinances that require the test but the state sends the letter anyway. I don't see a problem with it. I think it's important that gun owners know their responsibilities. I think it's a serious problem that people think it's ok to store loaded weapons in kitchen ovens and shoeboxes in their cloest.

reply to post by links234


In order to purchase a firearm in California you must have a Handgun Safety Certificate, to receive this certificate you must pass a thirty question handgun safety test at the cost $25. The certificate expires after five years. My point is that the information in the letter was already covered in the test, which I passed, it's stuff I had to know in order to purchase the firearm. So why then, when I have already proven to know and understand my legal responsibilities , do I need this little reminder from the city attorney? It's a scare tactic, it's intimidation, did you notice the added remark about being forcibly evicted?

Then, the money being collected for these tests is being used to fund confiscation. Nice.

Originally posted by DirtyD
So why then, when I have already proven to know and understand my legal responsibilities , do I need this little reminder from the city attorney?

Pssst... This is why...

reply to post by DirtyD


I just don't see it the way you do. Sorry.

I have no problem with this -- a form letter.

reply to post by Mirthful Me


So basically you're saying I got a letter to increase the likelihood of me reporting my firearm stolen, but then maybe, as the paper suggests, it just increased the number of straw buyers falsely reporting their weapon stolen to avoid being tied to any future criminal use.

I'm not buying that this letter was sent solely to improve a minor statistic.

reply to post by DirtyD


Actually, all I have said is that you have made a poor choice in residency... The documented justification is from the LA City Attorney...

You can't change LA county, but you can move...

Odd this letter.
Just last week I bought a new frying pan and recieved a letter in the mail from the office of the governor to not burn my food.


NOT!
I do not recieve a letter to not drink and drive when I purchase a car, and driving is a privelege not a right.
I do not receive a letter to not resell my prescriptions...
The list goes on and on, including the list of gun owners.
Time for folks to stand.

reply to post by spyder550


It's a not so friendly form letter. Did you get a letter when you bought that sports guy reminding you that just because you can go fast, doesn't mean it's legal? And if an accident occurs due to your reckless driving that you are liable for any damages, and if someone is killed you could be charged with manslaughter. Drunk driving is a serious problem Spyder, and if you are caught driving under the influence your license can be revoked, and you could be fined, imprisoned, or both. Do you need to be reminded of this, or is this stuff you already know?

Waste of time, wast of money to send out a letter pointing out a self-evident concept. I agree, with you DirtyD, it smells of intimidation...or a really lame PR move...what else could it be?

reply to post by FatherStacks


My vote is for intimidation, making a legal purchaser of a firearm feel like a potential criminal.