I wonder if Mr. Hasemeyer had his tongue firmly implanted in his cheek when he dreamed up the title. He's seems to take a pro-gun angle, bless him.
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Unintended consequence
Law appears to put `assault' label on pistol of champion high school target shooter
David Hasemyer, Staff Writer
16-Jan-2000 Sunday
Lauren Santibanez is a target shooter with Olympic aspirations and a collection of shiny gold medals attesting to her world-class skills.
The 17-year-old Mt. Carmel High School senior has a record of national and
international titles.
She also may have another record pretty soon -- a criminal one.
That's because the custom-made target pistol Santibanez has used to capture Junior Olympic championships, U.S. National championships and International
Junior World championships falls into the category of assault weapon under a new state law.
It's an unintended consequence of the law aimed at outlawing certain guns that have a sensational history of violence. But Santibanez's finely crafted competition pistol nonetheless became, at least technically, an illegal weapon on Jan. 1, much like tens of thousands of other pistols and rifles used in competitive shooting throughout the state.
The pistol, a German-manufactured Walther .22-caliber, falls into the category of assault weapon because of its design.
The ammunition magazine is in front of the trigger. That's a design trait shared by the TEC-9 pistol that has earned a reputation as a weapon of choice in mass killings such as at Colorado's Columbine High School.
It was the TEC-9 type of pistols that many believe legislators were gunning for when they decreed that any pistol with a magazine not built into the pistol's grip is an assault weapon, even though the placement of the magazine doesn't make the gun more powerful or more accurate.
Santibanez feels like she's an inadvertent victim of the gun control movement that has established California as one of the most gun-restrictive states in the nation.
It will be a misdemeanor to own the gun without registering it as of Jan. 1, 2001. The second offense is a felony.
Lauren's father and shooting coach, Sandy Santibanez, contends it's absurd.
"We are faced with becoming felons because of this law," he said. "My daughter is an Olympic shooter, not a criminal."
His daughter summed up what she thinks of the situation with teen-age succinctness:
"It's stupid," she said.
It might seem like an easy obstacle to overcome, convincing authorities that target pistols specially designed to meet Olympic shooting requirements are not assault weapons.
Or she could have her father register the gun, though it would be technically illegal for her to shoot it. Santibanez's father is dead set against that option because the new law would make it illegal for her to
handle the gun.
"If I did (register the gun) then I would be an adult giving her an assault weapon," he said. "Suddenly we are both breaking the law."
The new law is rigid, granting a limited number of exemptions mostly for
law-enforcement officers' service weapons but not for Olympic shooters. It would take an act of the Legislature to free Santibanez of the registration requirement.
"It's a real threat to my goal of making the Olympics," the Rancho Penasquitos teen-ager said.
Santibanez said the law may prompt her to leave the state and not attend California State University at Humboldt, where she had planned to study next year. "This is going to force me to make to have to make some
decisions that will affect my life."
Santibanez doesn't get much sympathy from the author of the law, state Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland.
If Olympic shooting is her goal, Perata says, she should find a state more
friendly to the sport, much like Olympic skiers go to Utah and Colorado to train.
"She may be better off living in Texas," said Perata, who reluctantly indicated that some limited exemptions to the law might be made if there were compelling reasons.
With the law about to take effect, Lauren's father had to hustle to change the dates of a key match that could lead to a spot on the Olympic shooting team for his daughter.
Santibanez was able to reschedule the match from February to December to avoid any conflicts with the law. His daughter won it and is now the California Junior Olympic sport pistol champion.
Her father still has to decide, by the end of 2000, whether to register the target pistols as assault weapons or face at least the potential of criminal charges. And he's distressed because even if they're registered
they still can't be handled by anyone under 18.
Santibanez considers that an assault on all Junior Olympic shooters, contending, "This takes the hopes away from some young people who had dreams of making the Olympics."
Copyright Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
------------------
Nevada alt C.A.N.
The New World Order has a Third Reich odor.
[This message has been edited by Oatka (edited January 24, 2000).]
http://www.uniontribune.com/new s/utarchives/cgi/idoc.cgi?522571+unix++www.uniontrib.com..80+Union-Tribune+Union-Tribune+Library+Library++%28oly
Unintended consequence
Law appears to put `assault' label on pistol of champion high school target shooter
David Hasemyer, Staff Writer
16-Jan-2000 Sunday
Lauren Santibanez is a target shooter with Olympic aspirations and a collection of shiny gold medals attesting to her world-class skills.
The 17-year-old Mt. Carmel High School senior has a record of national and
international titles.
She also may have another record pretty soon -- a criminal one.
That's because the custom-made target pistol Santibanez has used to capture Junior Olympic championships, U.S. National championships and International
Junior World championships falls into the category of assault weapon under a new state law.
It's an unintended consequence of the law aimed at outlawing certain guns that have a sensational history of violence. But Santibanez's finely crafted competition pistol nonetheless became, at least technically, an illegal weapon on Jan. 1, much like tens of thousands of other pistols and rifles used in competitive shooting throughout the state.
The pistol, a German-manufactured Walther .22-caliber, falls into the category of assault weapon because of its design.
The ammunition magazine is in front of the trigger. That's a design trait shared by the TEC-9 pistol that has earned a reputation as a weapon of choice in mass killings such as at Colorado's Columbine High School.
It was the TEC-9 type of pistols that many believe legislators were gunning for when they decreed that any pistol with a magazine not built into the pistol's grip is an assault weapon, even though the placement of the magazine doesn't make the gun more powerful or more accurate.
Santibanez feels like she's an inadvertent victim of the gun control movement that has established California as one of the most gun-restrictive states in the nation.
It will be a misdemeanor to own the gun without registering it as of Jan. 1, 2001. The second offense is a felony.
Lauren's father and shooting coach, Sandy Santibanez, contends it's absurd.
"We are faced with becoming felons because of this law," he said. "My daughter is an Olympic shooter, not a criminal."
His daughter summed up what she thinks of the situation with teen-age succinctness:
"It's stupid," she said.
It might seem like an easy obstacle to overcome, convincing authorities that target pistols specially designed to meet Olympic shooting requirements are not assault weapons.
Or she could have her father register the gun, though it would be technically illegal for her to shoot it. Santibanez's father is dead set against that option because the new law would make it illegal for her to
handle the gun.
"If I did (register the gun) then I would be an adult giving her an assault weapon," he said. "Suddenly we are both breaking the law."
The new law is rigid, granting a limited number of exemptions mostly for
law-enforcement officers' service weapons but not for Olympic shooters. It would take an act of the Legislature to free Santibanez of the registration requirement.
"It's a real threat to my goal of making the Olympics," the Rancho Penasquitos teen-ager said.
Santibanez said the law may prompt her to leave the state and not attend California State University at Humboldt, where she had planned to study next year. "This is going to force me to make to have to make some
decisions that will affect my life."
Santibanez doesn't get much sympathy from the author of the law, state Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland.
If Olympic shooting is her goal, Perata says, she should find a state more
friendly to the sport, much like Olympic skiers go to Utah and Colorado to train.
"She may be better off living in Texas," said Perata, who reluctantly indicated that some limited exemptions to the law might be made if there were compelling reasons.
With the law about to take effect, Lauren's father had to hustle to change the dates of a key match that could lead to a spot on the Olympic shooting team for his daughter.
Santibanez was able to reschedule the match from February to December to avoid any conflicts with the law. His daughter won it and is now the California Junior Olympic sport pistol champion.
Her father still has to decide, by the end of 2000, whether to register the target pistols as assault weapons or face at least the potential of criminal charges. And he's distressed because even if they're registered
they still can't be handled by anyone under 18.
Santibanez considers that an assault on all Junior Olympic shooters, contending, "This takes the hopes away from some young people who had dreams of making the Olympics."
Copyright Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
------------------
Nevada alt C.A.N.
The New World Order has a Third Reich odor.
[This message has been edited by Oatka (edited January 24, 2000).]
