Free Republic

A bill to prohibit people from openly carrying unloaded handguns in California, AB 144, heads for a vote in the state Senate soon, following its passage in May by the state Assembly and approval by the Senate Public Safety Committee. The bill, co-authored by assemblymen Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada, Flintridge) and Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) is again going before the Senate for a vote. The bill would make it a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail and a steep fine, to openly carry an unloaded handgun “on one’s person or in a vehicle.” The California Police Chiefs...

The purported goal of AB144, introduced by Assemblymember Anthony J. Portantino (D-Pasadena), is to outlaw unloaded open carry across the state. The bill was introduced in response to an increasing number of Californians who have been openly carrying unloaded handguns as the only legal means of self-defense in the face of arbitrary and discriminatory denials of concealed carry permits. But instead of correcting the discriminatory may-issue permitting system, Portantino’s solution is to remove even this limited right from the law-abiding citizens of California. But AB144 is such a poorly drafted piece of legislation that it will have significant unintended consequences....

To: California State Legislature & Governor Jerry Brown We urge you to oppose both Assemblyman Anthony Portantino’s AB 144 (banning the open carry of handguns in public places) and Senator Ted Lieu’s SB 661 (expanding the California gun free school zone radii from 1,000 to 1,500 feet) for the following reasons: 1. The open carry of holstered handguns has always been legal in California - it is an old right, not a new threat. In fact, 43 states allow the increasingly common "open carry" of handguns in public, in most cases at age 18 without any permit - and only...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - State senators Thursday approved a deal reached with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that would boost tolls at least $1 on most Bay Area bridges to help pay for earthquake safety upgrades, including a new eastern span of the Bay Bridge. The agreement ended a dispute between the Republican governor and San Francisco area legislators over how to cover $3.6 billion in cost overruns, mainly from the Bay Bridge project. "With any luck at all, we'll never have this subject before us again," said Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, who negotiated the deal with Schwarzenegger. The bill...