Confirmation hearings started today for David Chipman, Biden’s controversial pick to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.

Chipman now defining an "assault rifle" as any rifle about .22 caliber that has a detachable magazine. That' ain't just the AR-15 folks.

— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) May 26, 2021

So do you think a mass shooting happening at the same time is pure happenstance?

I have my doubts.

From San Francisco’s CBS local affiliate:

A gunman opened fire at a Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority light rail facility located on West Younger Ave. early Wednesday in a mass shooting that left several employees dead or wounded, officials and sources said.

A Santa Clara County Sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Russell Davis confirmed there were multiple fatalities and multiple wounded at the Guadalupe maintenance yard and control center, but the exact number was not immediately disclosed. Davis also said the unidentified shooter was dead, but the details were not immediately available.

Latest reports are saying 8 people were killed, but the investigation is ongoing, and as far as I am concerned, it is California and San Jose’s draconian gun restrictions that are to blame for this.

In 2019, the San Jose City Council passed a law requiring “safe storage” of guns—meaning locked cabinets, storing ammunition separate from guns, and so-called trigger locks which essentially do nothing more than kill your response time to a threat. This was clearly explained before a Senate committee by the hero Stephen Willeford, who struck down the 2017 church shooter in Sutherland Springs, TX, where 27 lives were lost.

MUST WATCH: Powerful testimony by local Texas hero, Stephen Willeford, on the importance of protecting Second Amendment rights for law abiding citizens. pic.twitter.com/KrN15HvKZZ

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) May 25, 2021

Sadly, this type of testimony falls on deaf ears like Sen. Richard Blumental (D-Da Nang Dick). Instead, gun control activists disguised as politicians double down on restrictions to lawful gun owners, rather than addressing the issues that cause someone to go on a shooting rampage in the first place. In the case of the Sutherland Springs shooter Devin Kelley, it was the government’s fault that Kelley had firearms in the first place, as hearings for a lawsuit that the victim’s families filed against the U.S. government confirm:

The families allege that failure by the U.S. Air Force to properly flag shooter Devin Kelley in a national background check database following a domestic violence conviction allowed Kelley to lawfully obtain the weapon used in the slayings.

Kelley was convicted on domestic violence charges in connection with a series of incidents that included fracturing his stepson’s skull and choking and pointing a gun at his then-wife in 2012.

The first witness to take the stand was Danielle Smith, the wife of Devin Kelley.

In dramatic testimony, she recalled a long history of abuse by Kelley throughout their marriage.

After the 2018 shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival (a gun-free zone), San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo (D-Hypocrite), drafted and pushed legislation that gun owners have to carry additional liability insurance on all their firearms.

I wonder, did that San Jose shooter safely store his firearms according to law? Did he also have insurance on that gun he used to kill eight and injure many others?

Inquiring minds want to know.

California is already one of the most restrictive gun control States in the nation, yet mass shootings like this still happen, usually in government-imposed “gun-free” zones where quick action is impossible. For instance, the action that Jack Wilson took in a White Settlement, TX church and saved many lives.

The saving grace on the San Jose shooting is this: the VTA was near the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s offices. If that had not been the case, no doubt the gunman would have taken more lives than eight.

But the agenda of all California officials and Democrat politicians is to even further restrict law-abiding gun owners in the state.

Just today, the California Legislature is voting on these bills:

• • Assembly Bill 1223 places an excise tax of 10% on the sales price of a handgun and places an 11% excise tax on the sales price on all long guns, rifles, firearm precursor parts, and ammunition. It is unjust to saddle law-abiding gun owners with special taxes.
  • Senate Bill 264 bans state officers, employees, operators, lessees, or licensees from entering into any agreement to allow for the sale of any firearm, firearm parts, or ammunition on property that is owned, leased, occupied, or operated by the state. This imposes a one-size-fits-all restriction to prevent officials from deciding how to use venues. In addition, this prevents tax-paying businesses from renting taxpayer-funded venues for lawful activities.
  • Senate Bill 538 expands California’s program of suspending constitutional rights and seizing property by allowing electronic filing and witnesses to appear remotely. By allowing remote testimony, the due process protections are lessened, not enhanced, and may limit the opportunity to examine the credibility of a witness.
  • Senate Bill 715 limits when a hunting license satisfies the requirements for adults under 21 purchasing a long gun. This means an individual who has purchased a license for an upcoming season will not satisfy the requirements of the bill. Additionally, it makes changes to the restrictions on gifts and loans of long guns to minors in a way that is confusing for well-intentioned individuals trying to follow current law.

This is more than chilling of California citizens’ Constitutional, 2nd Amendment freedoms, it is an outright assault. Gun control continues to tank out nationally, but California is doing its best to lead the way toward total restriction on gun ownership because it doesn’t like that the federal government is not acting quickly enough. San Jose Mayor Liccardo has said as much in multiple interviews.

If David Chipman is confirmed, expect this to become the federal norm. Why do you think Red states like Texas are moving quickly to pass Constitutional carry and other gun ownership protections? They see the handwriting on the wall.

Mayor Sam Liccardo gave remarks to reporters at the scene of the mass shooting in both English and Spanish. The usual blather given by a Democrat politician about how such tragedies must be stopped, with this warning, which for me, gives clear indication that they were just waiting in the wings for something like this to happen:

“This is a horrific day for our city, and it is a tragic day for the VTA family. And our heart pains for hte family and the coworkers, because we know that so many are feeling deeply this loss of their loved ones and their friends. Now is a moment for us to collect ourselves to understand what happened, to mourn, and to help those that suffered to heal. That will be my attention today, and for the foreseeable future.

“My attention will be immediately turn to ensuring we do everything possible to ensure this never happens again in our city. And in the next 48 hours I will be back in communication with you to talk about what we’ve been working on over the last year and what we intend to do for the weeks to come to ensure we never see a horrific tragedy like this again in San Jose.”

Rahm Emmanuel said it clearly: “Never let a crisis go to waste.”

Liccardo. Chipman. The California Legislature are on the case.