BILL REQUIRING BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR PRESSURE COOKER BUYERS INTRODUCED IN CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE

Boston Marathon bombings set off alarms among Democratic legislators

By Pamela Putz

The Unconventional Gazette
April 16, 2013

SACRAMENTO -- In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, State Senator Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, and Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, have introduced companion bills calling for background checks on pressure cooker buyers. And State Senator Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and Assemblyman Philip Ting, D-San Francisco, have introduced companion bills banning backpacks for all but public school students.

The two bombs in Boston were IEDs (improvised explosive devices) in the form of pressure cookers containing an explosive, BBs and nails. Similar IEDs have been commonly used against civilians and against American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The two bombs in Boston were contained in backpacks that were dropped off in trash containers near the Marathon finish line. There are various websites, including the one from al-Qaeda, with instructions for making pressure cooker bombs.

Sen. Yee and Assemblywoman Skinner told reporters that their bill was designed to protect Californians from terrorists, both domestic and foreign. Yee said, “We owe it to the people of this great state ….. that we do everything possible to protect them from these types of bombs.” And Skinner said, “The Boston Marathon bombings were a wakeup call.”

Sen. Leno told reporters that while his bill may seem somewhat drastic, it is too easy to conceal an IED in a backpack and "the Boston bombings call for drastic action." And Assemblyman Ting said, “In the not too distant future, terrorists will be able to use miniature nuclear devices against us … and what better place to conceal them than in backpacks.”

When The Unconventional Gazette asked Michael Ty, president of the American Culinary Federation, what he thought of Yee and Skinner’s proposal to require background checks for pressure cooker buyers, he replied, “What else would you expect from those kooks in the San Francisco Bay area.” Ty added, “Come on now, let's get real ..... Pots don’t kill people; people kill people.”

The NRA’s Hudson Riehle, happened to be with Michael Ty and could not restrain himself from speaking out about the pressure cooker control proposal. Riehle, the senior vice president of the National Restaurant Association (NRA) said, “That’s right ….. Pots don’t kill people; people kill people.”

The Unconventional Gazette also contacted Congressman Steve Stockman, R-Texas, an ardent anti-abortion and gun rights advocate. Rep. Stockman has produced a bumper sticker that says: If babies had guns they wouldn’t be aborted. When asked about the proposals to require background checks for pressure cooker buyers and the banning of backpacks, Stockman replied, “And they say I’m nuts.”