Capitol Journal: 2nd Amendment talk is nonsense — until we control the weapons and the killing stops

Reporting from Sacramento —  Call that killer a radical Islamic terrorist. Call him a hateful homophobic. Or a homicidal wacko. It doesn’t matter much.

Words don’t kill. Weapons do.

What mattered most Sunday morning in the deadliest mass shooting in American history was that the murderer was an assault weapon owner.

No, not merely a gun owner. Don’t get all huffy and defensive, gun zealots. Nobody’s tarring all gun owners. I’ve long been one myself.

That Orlando, Fla., nut was the owner of a freshly purchased assault rifle, the modern firearm toy of choice, especially for American mass killers.

Actually, it was just a simple part of the weapon — the large capacity ammunition magazine — that allowed Omar Mateen to fire off all those bullets so quickly.

If mass killers had to pause to reload — to change magazines — there’d be a brief opportunity for some victims to flee unharmed. In the Florida gay bar, there undoubtedly would have been fewer than 49 dead and 53 injured.

But denying him that macho magazine would have denied this killer his 2nd Amendment rights, based on gun lobby logic.

Updates on the Orlando shootings »

After all, he was a “law abiding” citizen — until he wasn’t. Until he got the uncontrollable urge to kill. Maybe we can’t control these warped people’s minds. But we certainly can control their weapons.

A 2nd Amendment violation? Nonsense.

None other than the late conservative hero, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, put it this way in a 2008 opinion affirming the right of individuals to own firearms:

“The right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited.... The right was not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.”

There is no constitutional right to tote around a military-style assault weapon, and courts have ruled so.

But we know all this, or we’re in denial.

And here we are again fighting over gun control — we Americans with by far the highest rate of firearms homicides among the free developed nations. (Central and South America are off the chart.)

The debate rages after every mass killing, which unfortunately have become frequent.

After the December 2012 massacre of 26 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, the California Legislature passed 18 gun bills. Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed more than a third. He enjoys playing both sides.

“He has planted his feet firmly astride the fence, and like King Solomon, he has split the baby in half,” commented gun lobbyist Sam Paredes, who heads Gun Owners of California.

The Legislature was still reacting to last December’s mass killing by a radical Islamic couple in San Bernardino that left 14 dead and 26 wounded when the Orlando massacre refocused public attention on guns.

Political firefights are being waged all over Sacramento.

A dozen gun bills cleared two legislative committees Tuesday. As usual, Democrats supported the bills, Republicans opposed them.

The two most significant bills would control assault weapons, which ostensibly are banned in California but proliferate because of loopholes.

One proposal would ban semiautomatic rifles with “bullet buttons” that facilitate the quick exchanging of ammo magazines.

Another measure would outlaw possession — not just the manufacture or purchase — of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. Owners would need to sell their large-capacity magazines to dealers, peddle them out of state or turn them in to police.

The cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland and Sunnyvale already have adopted similar ordinances.

But in the Legislature, this proposal never has come close to passing. Its odds aren’t good this time either. The bill, by state Sen. Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley), has passed the Senate, but faces a tough hurdle in the more moderate Assembly.

Updates from Sacramento »

Here’s my suggestion for an amendment: Set aside a tiny fraction of the just-passed $171-billion state budget to finance government purchase of the banned magazines. Show some respect for the affected gun owners.

Speaking of respect, some Democrats didn’t show any to gun lobbyists merely doing their job at the Assembly Public Safety Committee hearing. In fact, they sounded downright Donald Trump-like.

“It’s very difficult for me to sit here and look you in the eye and respect you,” Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell) told a National Rifle Assn. lobbyist, blaming his organization for the Orlando slayings.

Blame the policy, but keep it civil and not personal.

State Sen. Isadore Hall (D-Compton) — author of a “bullet button” bill — called gun lobbyists “crazy, vicious, heartless” people who “need to wash their mouths because they are filthy.”

It’s fine to tell the gun lobby its positions are full of holes. But that can be done without sounding like the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.

Democrats are scrambling to get these bills passed before the Legislature breaks for summer vacation July 1.

They’re hoping — for various good government and political reasons — to persuade Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom to drop his sweeping gun control initiative that is destined for the November ballot. That measure includes the ban on possession of super magazines.

But Newsom has shown no interest in abandoning his proposal. It’s more comprehensive than any package of bills Brown is likely to sign. Moreover, he’s using the initiative to help his 2018 gubernatorial bid.

Because of the Orlando butchery, this is an opportune time to tighten up gun ownership and finally ban assault rifles. But if this opportunity is missed, there’ll be more.

Unfortunately, continued mass shootings are certain until we control the weapons.

george.skelton@latimes.com

Follow @LATimesSkelton on Twitter

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