I was checking on the progress of AB 962 in the Ca legislature that places severe new restrictions on ammo purchases. I scan through the list of supporters and I see John's Gun Repair (Fall River Mills, ca). I check their website and see they are involved in gun sales, repairs, ammunition, etc. Why in the world would someone in the business and presumably supportive of gun ownership support a bill like this?

Nasig,

Simple: Rent-seeking behavior. Rent seeking is what the economists call an attempt to use politics to increase income. ANY time someone does such a thing, you can be sure that they think it is to their economic benefit.

Example: A company that makes MRI machines is likely to support legislation that requires a license to buy one. In fact, that is what happens in the US; you need a "Certificate of Need" that is in effect a license to buy one of the damn things. The reasoning is that in the hands of "the wrong people" the MRI could be used by unqualified people and someone could have surgery that is not really needed. This tends to keep the prices of MRI machines higher than they would be if a lot of them were made.

Hospitals are particularly thrilled with this too because then they can use the political process to make sure a competing hospital cannot buy one.

Unfortunately, although sellers and buyers are happy (sellers get higher prices, buyers don't face competition from others) the patients pay higher prices or travel great distances to get the MRI procedures.

By the way, this is what will happen under Obama Care. You might have to go 250 miles to the nearest place where you can get a radiation treatment or specialized medical imaging because the political considerations limit the number of places you can get the procedures.

You also wrote "presumably supportive of gun ownership". That is a big presumption. If you changed the sentence to "Why in the world would someone in the business and presumably supportive of their own business support a bill like this, you have come close to answering your own question.

Sorry for the long lecture, but when you teach in business and management, sometimes the urge is just too strong to overcome!

KLW

I hope it backfires on them and their customers take their business elsewhere. On the positive, in scrolling down the list of opponents I saw a number of gun (and ammo) stores.

Nasig,

Your duty is clear, every time you buy shooting related products, go to one of the opponents, buy there and then tell them WHY you bought from them.

KLW

This bill is on Arnie's desk. You freedom minded Californians need to get on the email/phone to him and remind him just how great this country is, and how much worse it will be if he doesn't veto this shitty bill.

http://www.sbabg.org/2009/09/2...ng-citizens-at-risk/

Any new restrictions will likely make it more difficult for a small upstart business to sell ammo. Per my understanding, this bill in particular makes mail order sales illegal. Clearly a well known gun store will benefit from that.

Similiar to how Phillip Morris supports anti-smoking legislation - Forbidding certain advertising formats, types, flavors of cigarrettes means that new and small companies will have a harder time.

The only people that lose out are...