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CALIFORNIA: Assembly passes crackdown on carrying unloaded handguns in public
Sacramento Bee ^ | 5/17/11 | Jim Sanders, Sacramento Bee

Posted on 05/17/2011 10:12:10 PM PDT by SmithL

Saying you don't need a gun to order a cheeseburger, a California lawmaker Monday pushed through the Assembly a crackdown on carrying unloaded handguns in public places.

Assemblyman Anthony Portantino's legislation takes aim at a movement that encourages people to show up at public places with unloaded handguns strapped to their side.

"Our families deserve to feel safe in our parks and coffee shops," said Portantino, D-La Cañada Flintridge.

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

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.

Sacramento was the site of a demonstration involving protesters with unloaded guns last year, and Portantino said a group of gun-wearing people rode a light-rail train into Pasadena and rallied near his office recently.

Portantino's Assembly Bill 144 would make it a misdemeanor to display an unloaded handgun in a public place or on a public street in a city or in prohibited areas of unincorporated county land.

(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Editorial; Government; US: California
KEYWORDS: banglist; goldenstate
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To: SmithL

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.


21 posted on 05/17/2011 10:53:19 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (How do you starve an Obama supporter? Hide his food stamps under his work boots.)
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To: kbennkc
3 ft. piece of stout pipe beats an unloaded pistol just about every time, I would think :^)
22 posted on 05/17/2011 10:54:29 PM PDT by The Cajun (Palin, Bachmann, Free Republic, Mark Levin, Rush, Hannity......Nuff said.)
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To: Jeff Winston

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


23 posted on 05/17/2011 10:57:49 PM PDT by HiTech RedNeck (Hawk)
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To: americanophile
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.

24 posted on 05/17/2011 11:00:44 PM PDT by Kickass Conservative (If Sarah Palin was President, you would have a job by now...)
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To: The Cajun
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.

25 posted on 05/17/2011 11:01:44 PM PDT by kbennkc (For those who have fought for it, freedom has a flavor the protected will never know.)
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To: The Cajun

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!


26 posted on 05/17/2011 11:03:43 PM PDT by Outlaw Woman ("...; because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee,... "Hosea 4:6)
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To: kbennkc

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


27 posted on 05/17/2011 11:06:32 PM PDT by The Cajun (Palin, Bachmann, Free Republic, Mark Levin, Rush, Hannity......Nuff said.)
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To: SmithL
>”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.

28 posted on 05/17/2011 11:07:53 PM PDT by Kickass Conservative (If Sarah Palin was President, you would have a job by now...)
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To: athelass

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.


29 posted on 05/17/2011 11:11:52 PM PDT by Myrddin
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To: Outlaw Woman
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?

30 posted on 05/17/2011 11:15:40 PM PDT by Inyo-Mono (My greatest fear is that when I'm gone my wife will sell my guns for what I told her I paid for them)
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To: SmithL
"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...

31 posted on 05/17/2011 11:18:18 PM PDT by Freedom_Is_Not_Free (Don't confuse Obama's evil for incompetence.)
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To: americanophile

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


32 posted on 05/17/2011 11:21:30 PM PDT by onona (Fullly aware that I may be totally)
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To: Inyo-Mono

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


33 posted on 05/17/2011 11:21:38 PM PDT by Outlaw Woman ("...; because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee,... "Hosea 4:6)
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To: Outlaw Woman

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.


34 posted on 05/17/2011 11:22:22 PM PDT by Freedom_Is_Not_Free (Don't confuse Obama's evil for incompetence.)
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To: Inyo-Mono

Huge grin alert !!

NICE


35 posted on 05/17/2011 11:22:47 PM PDT by onona (Fullly aware that I may be totally)
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To: Freedom_Is_Not_Free

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


36 posted on 05/17/2011 11:26:17 PM PDT by Outlaw Woman ("...; because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee,... "Hosea 4:6)
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To: americanophile

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...


37 posted on 05/17/2011 11:41:22 PM PDT by absalom01 (You should do your duty in all things. You can never do more, you should never wish to do less.)
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To: SmithL
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".

38 posted on 05/18/2011 12:17:56 AM PDT by Redcloak (What's your zombie plan?)
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To: The Cajun

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


39 posted on 05/18/2011 12:23:57 AM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: Inyo-Mono

Loaded carry is illegal in CA.


40 posted on 05/18/2011 12:26:04 AM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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