Just a few weeks ago we said we believed the California Department of Justice (DOJ) was insane for attempting to file the same assault weapons regulations they’d already filed twice, and which had been rejected by the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) just a month prior. They simply changed the date and filed them, hoping for a different result.

Well, amazingly, it worked for them. On August 1st, OAL approved the “new” regulations, which, as we warned, are overbroad and burdensome. Dozens of new definitions were added in, arguably creating new types of “assault weapons.”

OAL gave no explanation as to why the exact regulations they’d just denied were suddenly deemed acceptable nor as to why they allowed DOJ to use the “file and print” process and avoid public comment when there was no exemption granted in the law for the regulations in their entirety.

Just two days later, on August 3, the assault weapons registration website was live, but by the 4th it was down. If this shoddy performance is any indicator of how the site will perform overall, it’s fortunate that Californians who want to register have until July, 2018 to do so.

We will continue to fight the Gunpocalypse laws in every possible way, including holding DOJ and OAL accountable for approving these regulations.

Insanity has been the status quo for far too long in Sacramento. It’s time to remind legislators and bureaucrats at places like DOJ and OAL that we are watching their every step and will hold them accountable for every misstep.