California Sniperscopes??

[striker3]

Sniperscopes


468. Any person who knowingly buys, sells, receives, disposes of, conceals, or has in his possession a sniperscope shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment. As used in this section, sniperscope means any attachment, device or similar contrivance designed for or adaptable to use on a firearm which, through the use of a projected infrared light source and electronic telescope, enables the operator thereof to visually determine and locate the presence of objects during the nighttime. This section shall not prohibit the authorized use or possession of such sniperscope by a member of the armed forces of the United States or by police officers, peace officers, or law enforcement officers authorized by the properly constituted authorities for the enforcement of law or ordinances; nor shall this section prohibit the use or possession of such sniperscope when used solely for scientific research or educational purposes.

I am sure that this has been posted before, but I just had to post my own comments on this...

I found this when reading up on my *gag*new state's laws. This is just preposturous! According to this definition, a sniper scope is only a sniper scope when it has built in NV capabilities with an IR flashlight??? It is obvious that whoever writes these laws has absolutely no grasp on firearms and their accesorries. What does NV have to do with sniper capabilities. Not only that, but the term

projected infrared light source

Makes not one bit of sense. the ability to project infrared light does nothing to make a NV scope effective. It is the ability of the scope to amplifiy the infrared light spectrum already there that makes it effective. So if you want a legal NV scope in Cali, you just have to make sure that it does not have an IR flashlight on it...pretty simple. But this could be applied to actual Night Vision Goggles because they can be "adapted" for use on a firearm...just use ducktape! According to the law you just have to identify targets, not hit anything.

I guess that I am sorta glad that an idiot drafted this law, because if it had been any one with a brain, they might have banned true sniper scopes, like what is on daddy's hunting rifle...but one of these days they may blindly find their way to the light switch and get something right. That really scares me.

 

[Telperion]

Striker3- The term "sniperscope" (1 word) comes from very early nightvision/starlight scopes that were used as far back as WWII. It's different than what people then and today would mean by "sniper scope" (2 words) or "rifle scope".

Yes, it's Yet Another Example of our dumb laws, but that "research and educational purposes" clause looks like a loophole big enough to drive a few tanks through.

 

[labgrade]

& why is it illegal to throw one away ("dispose of")?

 

[SnWnMe]

Yup, I think the author of this law had "Predator Vision" IR detectors in mind. This guy obviously needs to lay off on the Splinter Cell stuff.

 

[Pilgrim]

California's sniperscope law has been around for quite some time. Its impact is Sportsmans Guide will not ship any night vision device to California, rifle scopes or handheld units. I asked them why and I got a canned answer that their legal department decided it was too risky to ship any light magnifying device to California.

Pilgrim

 

[Gordon]

I had(have) a Yugo RPK (semi but pre ban) .308 that came with a big old Infra red scope like this. I moved it out to Oregon when I became aware of this old law. This law was put on books because poachers were using M-3 Carbines to do their dirty work. These scopes are pretty ineffective over 75 yards, but within that range my Mitchell was death on hogs at night!

 

[labgrade]

" .... through the use of a projected infrared light source and electronic telescope, ... "

Good thing they didn't touch the mere "light amplification & thermal" devices - you know, they ones that are very[/Y] effective.

Those writing legislation, knowing zip about the firearms field, are right in the ballpark with me doing same for anything nuclear - a shot in the dark (no pun intended).

Right up there with the attempt to define "armor piercing" ammo .....

 

[4v50 Gary]

Old law. Thankfully not updated for passive.