CALIFORNIA: Assembly passes crackdown on carrying unloaded handguns in public

Sacramento Bee ^ | 5/17/11 | Jim Sanders, Sacramento Bee

[2ndDivisionVet]

I wouldn’t move back there if they made me king and gave me a nice IPO as a birthday present. Smart, conservative Californians need to scout out a place in Texas or the Dakotas or somesuch. If you can’t find a good job in Dallas/Ft Worth or Houston, you ain’t trying.

[The Cajun]

3 ft. piece of stout pipe beats an unloaded pistol just about every time, I would think :^)

[HiTech RedNeck]

Most conservatives would “feel” safer in the company of ten random neighbors walking around armed than in the company of ten cops.

[Kickass Conservative]

I grew up next door in La Crescenta.

When I was a kid, I used to go up in the hills near our house and plink cans with my .22 Remington Rifle. When I was a teenager, I had a gun rack in my Ford Pickup and never got a second look from my fellow Citizens. We used to load up the rifles and pistols and go up Angeles Crest Highway to do some target practice.

Oh how times have changed.

[kbennkc]

3 ft. piece of stout pipe beats an unloaded pistol just about every time, I would think :^)

BTW If you concealed the pipe, it would be an illegal carry in some states.

[Outlaw Woman]

It just sounds like a bunch of BS. I mean really, how many people walk around carrying unloaded guns? Typical Dems, invent a problem/crisis where none exist!

[The Cajun]

Have to use the *Plumber in Disguise* defense then.

[Kickass Conservative]

>”The “open carry” movement created shock waves in 2009 when about a dozen people carrying guns, including one with a military-style rifle, stood outside an Arizona convention center where President Barack Obama was speaking”<

The Citizen “protesters” were three blocks away from where Obama was speaking. That was where the Black guy was carrying his AR-15 and PMSNBC cropped the picture so people would think he was just another Timothy McVeigh.

[Myrddin]

I moved to ID in 2000. Things were fine until all my work dried up in
Dec 2008. I’ve been in San Diego working to support my family in ID
for the last 2 years. The personal gear I have can be relocated home
to ID in under 24 hours. No desire to have any ties to CA.

[Inyo-Mono]

Why would anyone carry an unloaded gun? Did I miss something?

I don't get it either. So I'm legal as long as my pistol is loaded, then illegal after I fire it and it is empty?

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

"You don't need a handgun to order a cheeseburger," he said. "You don't need a handgun to order a cup of coffee."

He must not have been to a MacDonald's lately...

[onona]

ahhh soooo...that explains it all. 1001 words.

[Outlaw Woman]

Hmmm never thought about it like that. Sounds like you must keep it loaded alright.

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

Open carry is illegal in California and they won’t issue conceal carry permits to most people - only a few rural counties issue CCW permits.

Guys were open-carrying unloaded handguns to bring attention to the CCW issue in California. The police would hassle them but couldn’t really do anything since they hadn’t broken the law. So the communists legislature, true to form, just fixed it so they will now be breaking the law if they continue - giving the police power to arrest them, not just harass them.

Commies are like that.

So now these protester/educators can’t open carry unloaded guns anymore in order to try to bring awareness to the issue unless they want to get arrested.

[onona]

Huge grin alert !!

NICE

[Outlaw Woman]

Thank you for that explanation. As far as I can see, CA is a lost cause.

[absalom01]

he always said he wanted to be Governor. Now he’s looking at the 26th CD?

I couldn’t stand Anthony when he was on the city counsel in LCF. I like him even less now...

[Redcloak]

Ed Worley, the NRA's CA State Liaison, was on NRA News after the Assembly passed AB144. I clipped out the audio and posted is here. Go take a listen. There are a couple of interesting things he mentions. The first is that public safety was not the reason some legislators voted for the bill. They were far more concerned with people wearing firearms openly to make a political statement. In other words, their intent wasn't to violate the 2nd Amendment, but rather the 1st Amendment.

There are also some very interesting legal ramifications if the bill becomes law. There have been two cases thus far in CA where Federal judges have ruled against CCW applicants who challenged our capricious "may issue" system. In both cases, the judges pointed out that since open carry is legal in this State, denying one a concealed carry permit doesn't infringe on one's right to use a firearms in self defense outside the home. Keep in mind that in both Heller and McDonald, the right of self defense was called a fundamental right that cannot exist without the right to keep and bear arms. Now, if AB144 passes, the only legal alternative to CCW will be outlawed. How then can one exercise the right to armed self defense?

There are only two manners in which one may carry a firearm: Openly or concealed. If one, open carry, is specifically outlawed, that leaves one and only one legal alternative: Concealed carry. The US Supreme Court has recognized the importance of armed self defense; that this is a fundamental right. And through the 14th Amendment, they have recognized that the States and localities have no power to infringe upon that right. Thus no State or locality may have a total ban on an activity related to that right. Total bans on gun possession are unconstitutional and illegal. Total bans on handgun possession are illegal. Do you see where this is going? The briar patch that Portantino threatens to toss us into may result in court-mandated shall-issue concealed carry!

Ed states that legislators were warned about this. The look he got in return is best described as "Bambi in headlights".

[Spktyr]

That is carrying an illegal club in California. IIRC, it’s a felony there.

[Spktyr]

Loaded carry is illegal in CA.