It was one of those looking glass moments. The kind where you pinch yourself to see if you're dreaming, then pinch yourself again just to be sure you didn't dream you pinched yourself.

Somehow I stumbled on this link which briefly details the passing of Proposition H, a rather far reaching gun control measure by even the standards of the Left Coast. The name itself, Proposition H, had me convinced this was some sort of joke, some sad pun on gun owners taking it 'up the ass' once again. Even the date give, April 1st, had me guessing this was someones sick joke. Turns out the joke's on everyone.

From the text of the Proposition we can easily see the following:

The sale, manufacture, transfer, and distribution of ALL FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION within the City and County of San Francisco is now verboten.

The possession of handguns by ANYONE within the City and County of San Francisco (aside from the chosen and annointed holy arms of government such as the Police, Sherrifs, and even Animal Control) is now verboten. In addition, any persons possessing a handgun beyond the 90 day grace period ending April 1st, 2006 will be subject to unspecified criminal penalites.

There will be NO COMPENSATION to anyone who voluntarily turns their handguns in before the 90 day grace period ends.

If you look beyond the basic '90 day' case presented by the text itself, long term ramifications support the logical conclusion that this is nothing less than a complete ban on ALL civilian owned firearms within San Francisco County, not to mention the criminalization of thousands of individuals through absolutely no actions of their own. Yes, I know...the law doesn't specifically say 'possession of firearms'. For the uninitiated, in order for someone to purchase a firearm in such places as California, or New Jersey, or New York, or almost every state in this nation, the prospective buyer must actually PURCHASE the firearm from a second party, most likely a gun store. Well, with the SALE and TRANSFER of firearms now being illegal....the avenue for a person to obtain a firearm legally in the County has now been destroyed. What will happen in SanFran will mirror the happenings in D.C. exactly. Those who own firearms will either transfer them out of state, or transfer THEMSELVES out of the state. With the majority of firearm owners taking this option, the only people left in the city with guns will be the police and the criminals. In one respect, the San Fran County government at least displayed more courage than D.C. in their law. The language of the law, and the specific inclusion of the Feinstein 'turn them all in, Mr. and Mrs. America' quote, leaves no doubt as to their intentions of an outright ban. The SFGATE sadly has it right, in that San Francisco has risen to surpass D.C. as having the strictest gun laws in all of the United States. One would not be so surprised if the effect on violent crime rates will not similary rise.

Even an idiot could see that there is massive potential for judicial challenges to this proposition. You've got US Constitutional challenges via Article 1 sections 9 and 10 (provision against the federal and state governments prohibiting ex post facto laws), the Second Amendment (violation of the right to keep and bear arms), Fourth Amendment (effects secure against unreasoanble seizures), Fifth Amendment (deprivation of propery without due process of law), Fourteenth (privileges & immunities, due process, and possibly equal protections). Of course, with the 800lb gorilla (more like the 8lb soaking wet rat) of this arena, the NRA, has an aversion to supporting Second Amendment challenges to California gun bans akin to a Vampire and the Gilroy Garlic Festival, so the chances of such a challenge making it are...well...about as high as the chances of defeating the measure in the first place. If a challenge can be mounted and monetarily supported, I would bet any amount you please it will follow this path: every single court will affirm the law, up to and including the Ninth Circu-I mean-Circuit Court of Appeals, and the case will be appealed to the Supreme Court. With Roberts, and most likely Alito, sitting on the court and O'Connor gone, there's a better than even chance they won't deny cert outright as they do every other 2A challenge. As to whether that is a good or a bad thing, I leave that as an excercise to the reader as I for damn sure can't tell yet...

Of course seeing as I live a good 3000 miles from the Left Coast, there is little left for me to do than rant. Except this:
The only way anyone could ever get me into San Francisco is if they drag my putrid, stinking, decaying corpse into that hellhole.

UPDATE: As with many things, I am neither completely right, nor am I completely wrong. It seems the 800lb gorilla has decided to jump into the fray. The NRA has filed suit challenging the San Francisco firearms ordinance. I was, however, once again proven correct. They don't make any challenges on and specific Constitutional grounds, but instead seek to have the law struck down based on equal rights violations and state law preemption. Cowards way out, in a sense, but in no way surprising coming from the NRA...