Gun owners in Los Angeles County, CA have a bad case of whiplash. Their whiplash is the result of Sheriff Alex Villaneuva’s proclamations on guns during the Corona Virus crisis. But a recent announcement by the Trump administration’s Department of Homeland security seems to have given Sheriff Alex Villaneuva a final position: he will not be closing gun stores.
You cans see his position statement here:
The pertinent text is here:
On March 28, 2020, the United States Department of Homeland Security issued an Advisory Memorandum in regard to Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers during COVID-19 response. Although explicitly advisory in nature, nonetheless the federal memorandum is persuasive given its national scope. Included in the list of essential critical infrastructure workers are workers supporting the operation of firearm or ammunition product manufacturers, retailers, importers, distributors, and shooting ranges.
Based on this further input from the federal government, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will not order or recommend business that sell or repair firearms or sell ammunition; will investigate reports of improper health practices such as poor sanitation or failure to maintain social distancing at all businesses; and forward detailed reports of unlawful health conditions to the District Attorney for their review and consideration.
A Man On A Mission
Sheriff Villaneuva came out early in this Covid-19 catastrophe and strongly recommended that people not buy guns in anticipation of any civil unrest or for self-protection in uncertain times. No, the police will protect you! Ironically, at the same press conference, Villaneuva announced he was releasing 600 prisoners from the prison system to protect them from Covid-19. We see whose safety matters more to Villaneuva!
Then, a couple days later and just a week ago, Villaneuva said that he was going to close all gun stores in the city as non essential, making his radical anti-Second Amendment position even more apparent. This didn’t go over too well with gun owners. Or really anybody who cared about the Constitution or checks and balances. This one guy, thanks to ’emergency powers’ is able suspend the gun rights of millions of people indefinitely?
Thanks to crushing pressure, Villaneuva ‘changed his mind’ and reopened gun stores less than 24 hours later. But he wasn’t happy about it, and made that very clear.
Somebody Else Weighs In On The Matter
With Trump’s Department of Homeland Security guidelines released on Saturday afternoon declaring the gun stores are “essential infrastructure”, Villaneuva seems to have finally found some firm footing. He, like many other officials, makes it clear that he doesn’t like the policy, but agrees to go along with it.
Without the restraints of threatened lawsuits, the Trump administration’s Department of Homeland Security, and pressure from thousands of gun owners across the country, who knows what this guy would do. He’s a tyrant in his soul, and only external forces have kept him from stomping gun owners into the dust.
Every state is only a few elections away from being a California or New York, at this point. Virginia has fallen, Arizona is in their cross-hairs. Fight now and fight hard or one day an over-paid tyrant like this one might have absolute power over your rights.