California Attorney General Rob Bonta last Friday issued an arbitrary note declaring a series of "featureless" rifles by a local gunmaker to be illegal.
Bonta, a Democrat who has gone on record in support of increasingly strict gun control laws and regulations, fired off a cease-and-desist letter to Orange County-based firearm manufacturer Juggernaut Tactical, saying the company's California-compliant F-9, F-10, and F-15 rifles are, at least in the eyes of the state DOJ, "assault weapons, and are therefore unlawful to possess, manufacture, distribute, transport, import, keep for sale, offer for sale, or display for sale under California law."
The move, if pursued and upheld in court, could bring as much as eight years in state prison for those manufacturing or selling such a firearm.
Juggernaut had previously advertised its FT series of AR-style rifles as having a new style of lower receiver that drops the exposed portion of the trigger, allowing owners to keep a standard pistol grip while remaining "featureless" under California's draconian assault weapon bans, laws which consider a gun's features such as a detachable magazine, pistol grip, or threaded barrel, towards a prohibition on most popular semi-auto rifles for a variety of unclear reasons.
"Our assault weapons ban is a landmark piece of legislation that has saved the lives of countless Californians — firearms manufacturers can’t ignore the law simply because it suits their bottom line," contended Bonta in a statement, without providing evidence to back up such boasts. "In California, our firearm regulations were written with the safety of the public and the rights of responsible gun owners in mind. Rather than abide by the law, Juggernaut chose to disregard it by manufacturing and selling a series of illegal assault weapons. Today’s cease-and-desist letter is a warning that we hope is heeded so that no further action becomes necessary."
In addition to the letter sent to Juggernaut, instructing the company to stop selling its F-9, F-10, and F-15 rifles, cancel all pending purchases, and retrieve all such guns delivered to dealers, Bonta's office also published a bulletin addressed to law enforcement agencies, firearms dealers, firearm manufacturers, and federal firearms licensees in the state, advising them that the rifles are "illegal and should not be sold in the state."
