The curse (?) of the featureless rifle
In case you haven’t been following the news out of California last year, it was all bad when it came to gun rights with the one-two punch of a series of a dozen anti-gun bills passed by the state legislature and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown into law and a voter referendum backed by Lt. Gov. Gavin “I want to be Jerry Brown” Newsom approved at the polls. Basically, old-style bullet buttons are gone, grandfathered magazines aren’t, “featureless rifles” are the thing moving forward, ammo will have to be bought at gun stores after a background check, etc.
However, not all of the featureless rifles look all that bad. Here are three contenders: from Thordsen Customs, Hera Arms, and Fightlite Industries:
The Hera line seem to have taken off a bit, though they remind me of the “thumb hole” stocks of the Clinton-era Federal Assault Weapon Ban of 1994-2004, sans hole of course, as that would be too tactical scary.
And I actually really like the Fightlite SCR, of which the company says, “SCR is much more than a ‘featureless’ gun to beat state bans. While the concept certainly began that way, its evolved into a simply kick-ass rifle rifle that many agree points and shoots faster and more naturally than most modern rifles. 3-Gun competitors take note.”
Sure they are wonky when compared to an og Colt SP1, but they are still “California compliant” even after all the mass of new regulation.
I asked one of the foot soldiers on the ground in California gun rights if this was to be expected, and here is what I got:
“To make a long story short, Yes! California will innovate, just like we have every other time they banned ARs,” said the Firearms Policy Coalition’s Craig J. DeLuz. “In 1990 we came up with ‘Off List Lowers.’ In 2000 we invented the ‘Bullet Button.’ 2017 will be no different. Once the regs are out, we’ll know which of the already proposed or soon to be created innovations will allow California gun owners to own these firearms while remaining in compliance.”