It’s July 1st and Kalifornians are celebrating with all their might!
Two very important laws and taxes went into effect July 1st and, as polled, Kalifornians can’t wait to take yet another white-hot piece of ribbed, twisted rebar directly into their collective asses. I can smell the glorious, sizzling, special-sauce-seasoned sphincter-flesh from here.
First, Kalifornians are rejoicing over yet another loss involving their Second Amendment rights. Just short of advocating a full-on firearms confiscation as the low-key and Constitution-abiding Nuclear Eric Swalwell —
— (but he doesn’t really mean it) is wont to advocate (I’m sure he’ll get there; just give him enough time), Kalifornia never fails to disappoint in its rampant and ongoing goal of removing as many of those pesky freedoms and liberties allegedly “guaranteed” in that ridiculous festering document called the US Constitution and its concomitant doddering “Bill of Rights.”
Yeah — for “people,” not the government. What an ancient and outdated concept is that?
Everyone knows — or should know — that government exists for the benefit of government itself and its members.
Certainly not for the proles, the serfs, the rabble, the commoners, the unwashed, the groundlings, the subjects, the peasants. If you don’t think that’s you — yeah, that’s you.
You know: the real Americans who aren’t illegal who live under the threat of prison time for not actually consistently paying taxes: you and me. We can go straight to hell.
Do not think for a microsecond that Swalwell couldn’t have a massively armed personal security contingent (PSC) at a phone call — or doesn’t already.
That said, jubilation rings out across the land due to this, from Breitbart.com:
California Ammunition Background Checks Take Effect July 1
by AWR Hawkins
New gun controls taking effect July 1, 2019, will require citizens of California to pass a background check every time they buy a box of ammunition.
Wait. Like the same background check to purchase an actual firearms itself?
Well, yeah. Get real. It’s Kalifornia.
Hallelujah!
Moreover, the new controls will require the ammunition purchaser to pay a $1 fee when he or she undergoes a background check.
From USAToday.com
A win for public safety or a government ploy? California set to require background check for ammo sales
The bustle inside LAX Ammunition on the Friday before Father’s Day betrayed the gloom of the outside sky.
Employees inside the Los Angeles-area gun shop had their hands full chatting with customers who were looking to replenish their ammo supply before July 1, with some customers spending hundreds of dollars in the process.
Why the hurry? That’s the day a new state law will require almost all buyers to go through background checks before being able to buy bullets, potentially increasing the amount of time and money it takes to make purchases.
“We’re probably up by 400% from where we were last year for this past month, and this month, in total sales,” says Daniel Kash, the store’s president.
Dude. Make money before Kalifornia outlaws gun stores. You think that’s not coming? Think again.
As it is, California has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation — the state bans most assault weapons and restricts the sale and possession of large capacity magazines. There’s also a 10-day waiting period prior to the sale or transfer of a firearm, among other restrictions.
How would it work? Like this:
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Customers will have to receive a background check every time they make an ammunition purchase, paying $1 each time.
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Those who don’t already have their information in the Department of Justice’s system for these point-of-sale screenings will have to pay up to $20 for an initial screening.
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Vendors will have to make sure customers aren’t on a DOJ list that names people who are prohibited from buying guns for various reasons — for example, committing a felony — before selling to them.
All ammo sales will have to take place in person — even online orders will have to be shipped to a licensed vendor’s store before customers can pick them up.
Gun owners and enthusiasts aren’t happy, arguing that the new law will cost extra time and money.
You also can’t purchase ammunition and give it to someone else. You cannot lend or sell ammunition. A sale of ammunition is being treated just like the sale of a firearm.
As of July 1st, Kalifornia now officially pays the highest fuel tax in the nation, courtesy of Governor Gavin Newsom who wants you to hurt at the pump. From CNBC.com:
After tax hike, gas in California is now a dollar higher than the national average
by Marc Rod
- California’s average gas price per gallon bumped up to a nation high of $3.755 per gallon when a new 5.6 cent gas tax increase went into effect July 1.
- With the new tax in place, it will cost approximately 78 cents more to fill an average 14-gallon gas tank, according to a spokeswoman for the Auto Club of Southern California.
- Although it comes just before the July 4 holiday, the tax increase is unlikely to suppress Independence Day travel.
California’s already-high gas prices jumped up again on July 1, with a new 5.6 cents per gallon gasoline tax hike.
The increase brings the average price per gallon in California for regular gasoline to a national high of $3.755 per gallon, according to the American Automobile Association, more than a dollar a gallon more than the national average of $2.717 per gallon.
The hike takes California’s total statewide gas tax up to 47.3 cents per gallon, according to the state’s Department of Tax and Fee administration.
You have to realize that it’s an honor and a privilege to pay more fuel taxes in Kalifornia. And note this:
Under the 2017 law, the tax will automatically increase annually based on a Consumer Price Index adjustment, beginning July 1, 2020.
But officials say these tax increases may not be sufficient to fill the state’s infrastructure needs, the Times reported.
Governor Gavin Newsom is the besotted moron who said we need an investigation into Kalifornia’s high gas prices back in April:
Newsom seeks an explanation for California’s high gas prices
by the AP
Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to know why California’s gasoline prices are higher than in the rest of the country, blaming potential “inappropriate industry practices” Tuesday rather than the state’s higher taxes and tougher environmental regulations.
Newsom asked the California Energy Commission for an analysis of the state’s gas prices by May 15. California drivers were paying an average of $4.03 a gallon Tuesday, or $1.18 more than the national average, according to AAA.
Higher taxes, along with a combination of tougher gas standards and environmental regulations, normally account for about 70 cents of that difference, said Gordon Schremp, a senior fuels specialist with the California Energy Commission. But the rest is a mystery.
“The rest is a mystery.” AYFKM?
Let us not forget, this is the state that demands all the various boutique blends, summer and winter, for all of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) districts. Here is another explanation with actual facts, from Forbes.com:
California Is Approaching $4 Gasoline, But It Has Only Itself To Blame
by Ellen R Wald
Gasoline prices in Los Angeles are nearing the psychologically significant $4 per gallon mark. The media are reporting that the increase is due to rising oil prices, which they blame on OPEC’s policies and President Trump’s new sanctions on the Iranian oil industry. It is true that global oil prices are higher. The international oil benchmark, Brent, is now over $80 per barrel, but this is not the reason why gasoline prices in Los Angeles and around California are the highest in the nation.
California consistently has some of the highest gasoline prices in the the United States, and a newly instituted 12 cent per gallon gasoline tax isn’t helping. California also has some of the most stringent regulations for its gasoline in the nation. In practice, this means very few refineries are willing to produce gasoline for that state.
For many years, California also required that summer-blend gasoline — which is more expensive to produce and contains extra additives designed to reduce air pollution in the summer — be used all year round. So, while gasoline prices typically fall in September across the United States as stations switch to the cheaper winter blend, Californians were left paying higher prices. In 2012, around the time gasoline prices were breaking records, Governor Jerry Brown changed the regulations to permit winter-blend gasoline to be sold in California in an attempt to bring down rising gasoline prices. Still, both the summer and winter blends of gasoline used in California are more expensive to produce than those used in any other state.
California’s stringent environmental regulations have isolated it from the larger gasoline market . This, in turn, has pushed up prices for consumers even more. For example, transportation costs for refineries and service stations are higher because California has no interstate pipelines. Any gasoline that is produced by refineries outside of California for use in California must be transported by truck or ship – both of which are more expensive. (Coincidentally, trucking and shipping gasoline also have larger carbon footprints).
California’s predicament is largely of its own making and its extra high gasoline prices should not be blamed on Iran, President Trump or even OPEC . Yes, gasoline prices are rising across the nation, but if California hits $4 per gallon, consumers have their own state taxes and regulations to blame.
This is Kalifornia hitting itself on the head with the largest hammer ever manufactured, then asking why that hurts so much.
BZ
