Latino Rifle Association Founder: San Jose Gun Control Hurts Minorities

San Jose’s new gun controls will hurt minorities, Latino Rifle Association founder P.B. Gomez warned.

The San Jose City Council responded to the May 26, Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) mass shooting by passing numerous gun controls, Breitbart News reported. The VTA attacker used handguns which were “legally” acquired and “registered” in compliance with California law.

The city council passed new rules against straw purchases and a requirement that licensed gun dealers video all gun sales, the San Jose Spotlight noted.

The city council’s gun control response also included a liability insurance requirement for gun owners and a fee which will be imposed on gun ownership, NBC Bay Area reported.

San Jose police made clear “they won’t be knocking on people’s doors and asking to see registration for firearms. Instead, if police come across a firearm in a search, they will ask to see insurance papers,” KQED pointed out.

Latino Rifle Associations’ Gomez is worried the San Jose police’s approach to the insurance enforcement will impact the poor and people of color the most, suggesting they are prone to police contact.

He lamented that the new gun control comes at a time when gun ownership among minorities is rising. “You were seeing, across the country, rising rates of gun ownership. Most interestingly, rising rates of gun ownership for demographics who didn’t traditionally embrace gun ownership: Black people, Latino people,” Gomez said.

Gomez also noted the new controls are part of anti-gunners’ effort to dissuade Americans from gun ownership altogether. “They’re trying to shrink, by any means, the [number] of gun owners and to make gun ownership more of an inconvenience.”