COUNTY COUNCILS 'GUN-FREE ZONES' FOR 'GUN-FREE ZONES'!

Santa Barbara County's esteemed Board of Supervisors, proving once again that they're hard at work solving problems that don't exist, has decided that the biggest threat to our children and places of worship isn't the fentanyl flowing freely across our open borders, or the rampant homelessness spreading throughout our communities, but rather… a *gun store*. Yes, you read that right. According to the Board, the proximity of a lawful firearms retailer to a Goleta daycare is an existential crisis demanding immediate, heavy-handed government intervention.

Our friends at the Lompoc Record, ever eager to parrot the latest progressive pieties, dutifully reported on this groundbreaking 'moratorium' as if it were a genuine public safety measure. What they failed to mention, or perhaps simply didn't grasp, is the sheer absurdity of the notion. Apparently, the mere existence of a licensed business selling constitutionally protected items is now deemed a clear and present danger, deserving of the same 'buffer zone' treatment typically reserved for adult entertainment establishments or hazardous waste dumps. One wonders if these same Supervisors have ever considered banning liquor stores near schools? Or maybe, just maybe, they haven't noticed all the 'Gun-Free Zone' signs that already make these locations prime targets for those who *don't* care about the law?

This isn't about public safety; it's about signaling virtue and harassing law-abiding citizens and businesses. The supervisors are effectively creating more 'soft targets' by disarming potential self-defenders in these areas, while simultaneously chasing job-creating enterprises out of the county. The message is clear: if you operate a business that upholds the Second Amendment, you're not welcome in Santa Barbara. Meanwhile, the actual criminals, bless their hearts, are no doubt chuckling at the county's continued commitment to making their jobs easier. It's a progressive paradise where law-abiding business owners are the enemy, and common sense has been exiled to the county line. Good thing President Trump is in the White House to remind us what real freedom looks like.