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California: Open Carry Makes People Nervous

October 11, 2011 by  

California: Open Carry Makes People Nervous

In California, a law that allowed for the open-carry of unloaded handguns was overturned on Monday by Governor Jerry Brown.

According to a POLITICO report, the decision stems from complaints from police chiefs and sheriffs in the State who say that open carry makes too many citizens nervous.

“They are tied up dealing with calls from the public about gun-toting men and women in the coffee shop,” California Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, who introduced the bill, said according to the news outlet. “As law enforcement officials tell me, it’s not safe and someone is going to get hurt.”

In the weeks leading up to the new rule, gun rights activists have gathered in large groups throughout the State brandishing their holstered firearms, which the article concedes “made many members of the public nervous.”

According to POLITICO, the Governor also signed other bills into effect in the past few days, including a State version of the DREAM Act; a bill banning the sale and possession of shark fins; a farm workers’ rights bill; a bill limiting the use of tanning beds for those under 18 years old; and a union-backed bill prohibiting grocery stores from selling beer, wine or liquor using self-checkout lanes.

 

Filed Under: Civil Liberty, Conservative Politics, Liberty News, Staff Reports
Sam Rolley

Staff writer Sam Rolley began a career in journalism working for a small town newspaper while seeking a B.A. in English. After learning about many of the biases present in most modern newsrooms, Rolley became determined to find a position in journalism that would allow him to combat the unsavory image that the news industry has gained. He is dedicated to seeking the truth and exposing the lies disseminated by the mainstream media at the behest of their corporate masters, special interest groups and information gatekeepers.

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  • Spyder Dalton

    TLos Angeles does not allow CCW’s for people even if they work in a dangerous profession. Even against the ruling of the courts and CA law they continue to deny 2nd amendment rights.

    • 45caliber

      Spyder:

      It is obvious that these people are in the wrong profession. They should all be politicians. It is easy for them to get the right to carry a loaded gun. Just no one else should be allowed to do it.

    • Mark Are

      They aren’t violating “2nd amendment” rights. They are VIOLATING THE RIGHT TO PROTECT YOURSELF GIVEN TO YOU BY BIRTH. That’s what pisses me off. Little PSYCHOPATHS that want us disarmed so that when we figure out that they are screwing us, our dogs, wives, cats, kids and who knows what else we can’t shoot them. We will have to use a sword, or 2×4. I’ll use the 2×4.

  • Spyder Dalton

    Can we please subpoena the police records showing how many calls from the public the police actually got to have this law enacted? I have never once seen a gun toting citizen anywhere.

  • BIG JOHN

    P.S. Jerry Brown is an idiot.

  • BIG JOHN

    I’m a retired cop of 27 years, people with a concealed permit have assisted me numerous times when I was patrolling as a one man unit,(something which is very common in TX) violent crime, among LEGAL citizens in TX is down significantly.I am not afraid or scared of LEGAL citizens who carry concealed LEGALLY, it’s the scumbags, and crooks and ILLEGALS that carry with total disregard for the law. The old saying that when guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns,has never been more true than right now, when all the “gun grabbers” are doing their best to ban weapons, loaded or unloaded,like so many of the posts say, what the he!! good is an unloaded weapon. Might as well carry a pocket full of rocks.

    • 45caliber

      Big John:

      I agree. Futher it would be better to carry rocks than an unloaded gun. They are easier to throw.

    • Mark Are

      So tell me Big John…which is the LAW? The Constitution or some edict that says I have to go to some MAN, pay a FEE and take a test before I can carry a concealed firearm? The LAW says this: THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED. HOW hard is that to understand? So since I don’t go out and ask permission of some person to carry a firearm am I a person with total disregard of the law? Or am I a person that REGARDS the law and disregards USURPATION of my rights?

  • oldbill

    These people can perpetually get gay marriage on the ballot, why not gun control? Let the people of California decide if they believe the Constitution or not, and then let the law run its course to the Supreme Court. Primative firearms should be exempt from the law, and a citizen, of age, unimpaired by legal issues, such as felony convictions, should be able to carry such weapons loaded, either openly or concealed.

    • Spyder Dalton

      Liberals do not let people vote or decide for what’s good for themselves… they know better than you what’s good for you and what’s not….

      • 45caliber

        I completely agree on this …

  • Vic Bailey

    Socialisun at it’s best, as usual the fruits, nuts and flakes are busy screwing with citizen’s rights. The only place there need to be no guns is in mexico! Semper Fi.

  • http://none Bill Cook

    I’m glad I left Kalifrutia.will only return to get personal property then I’m gone for good.I took my guns with me when I left the first time.

  • steve in AZ

    There’s a whole lotta people I’d like to see nervous. I carry openly.

    DONATE NOW so you can VOTE RON PAUL 2012!!!

    • 45caliber

      I know what you mean!

      I had a friend who told me once that he went into a convenience store to pay for gas why he was openly carrying. Three teens quickly left. The clerk thanked him for coming in since he was convinced the three were trying to work up courage to rob him.

  • bill

    I recall,on a touring motorcycle trip,either in Wyoming or Montana ,stopping in a medium sized town,many residents wore sidearms.We all had lunch there and everyone
    commented on a friendlier and polite town,we had never encountered on our trip before.All of us left in the same good health that we arrived in.I believe it is only criminals who are concerned about citizens wearing sidearms.

    • Ret

      Yup, criminals, TSA, POTUS, many cops (not all, for those of you who can’t figure out that I’m not against them), etc do what they can get away with. Too bad we have turned into a nation of people who can’t put 2+2 together. Switzerland has a very low crime rate. All males between 19-34 are militarily trained, keep their military weapons at home, and gun crimes are so low they don’t keep statistics (check out wikipedia). Hmmm…

      • 45caliber

        I saw a report by NRA some time back that compared the ACTUAL gun crimes for the various countries. Switzerland, Chechoslavocia (can’t spell it), and ISREAL led the list. I thought it interesting that Isreal was so low considering all the info you hear on them … but most of that is due to terrorists, not criminals.

      • Alej

        Switzerland is an all-white country.

      • http://gunner689 gunner689

        Well that explains their low crime rate.

  • David in MA

    After reading a couple of posts I went back and re-read the article..
    What is written says it is illegal to open carry an un-loaded handgun …
    It DOES NOT say you cannot carry a loaded handgun openly…..
    Did moonbeam “shoot himself in the foot?” with this bill?

    ALSO: ““They are tied up dealing with calls from the public about gun-toting men and women in the coffee shop,””—-Does this make the cops nervious at donut break? Afread they will lose their favorite seat? Don’t dare to go pee without a back-up? ha ha ha ha ha!

    • 45caliber

      David:

      The reason for the second statement is that a group of people are pushing for their rights to carry. They use the law as it was to go to coffee shops as a group to visit – while they are carrying openly. The comment is a slam against them.

  • David in MA

    Who would want to carry an unloaded firearm?
    That would make for a quick grab by a criminal who knows he is in no danger by doing so. It’s like owning a car with no gas, perceprion of “something” but no reality.
    BTW, does this mean it’s ok to carry a conceiled firearm….loaded.
    If California would allow open carry there would be less crime and fewer illegal immigrants sucking on the CA budget teet, they would leave!

    • Cawmun Cents

      Better yet…rely on a loaded cop.-CC.

      • 45caliber

        CC:

        But only if you can carry him!

        That’s one reason I like to carry a gun. A cop is a lot heavier.

  • http://PersonalLibertyDigest Ron the Red Neck

    Carrying an unloaded weapon makes no sense at all. What are they going to do with it, throw it at someone who threatens their life? Carrying a loaded concealed weapon makes more sense and should not cause any of the Libs. Out there any concern since they would not know someone was packing.
    What can we expect from the land of fruits and nuts, after all they reelected Jerry Brown, Queen Nancy, and Maxine Waters,

  • OneDamnAngryAmerican

    Oh, off topic. Back in the late 50′s, I found a packet of birth control pills on the street, partly used. It even had the lady’s name on it, that it belonged to. I wanted to look her up in the phone book and bring it to her, and see if I could get a “reward” for finding them. My dad took them and said that he would take care of it. A month later, he came down with the crabs, and told mom he must have got it off a toilet seat, because he had to take a dump one morning while going to work, and stopped off at a sleezy saloon to use their bathroom. Oh, the 50′s. How I long for the old days and the days of my youth! When I was working, before all this mess started, an 18 year old with tattoes laughed at me at work, once (it was all in fun), calling me “old school.” I told her, “I AM NOT OLD SCHOOL!” Then, I took out my pocket watch, looked at it, and said that I was going on break. Everybody laughed so hard the gals almost wet their “slacks”!

    • MajorJ

      Interesting story, but considering that the “Pill” was not appoved for use until the 60′s, either your memory is faulty or your just BSing. Me thinkst your just full of SH!T. And that conclusion is reinforced by the CRAP in all your other posts …. CRAP JUST CRAP!!

  • OneDamnAngryAmerican

    Did’ja know that in Vermont, any “citizen” can carry a loaded gun, concealed, WITHOUT ANY KIND OF PERMIT! Guess what? Less crime and less illegals living in that state! A few other states have the same law, and less crime, too! I’m not from Vermont, but, before the GCA, you could buy a shotgun (or any other), mailorder, from Sears, and it was very common to see your mom, aunt, or grandmother open her purse to get out her lipstick, or cigs, and notice a revolver there. It was so common, that nobody even made a comment about it being there!

    • 45caliber

      You are right. I remember that too.

      I did get a recent laugh about it, though. Our minister sent out a note asking all the Trustees to meet to discuss church security. I couldn’t make the meeting so I sent back a note stating that anything they came up with was fine with me “up to and including having a couple of people carry a gun to church on Sunday”.

      The pastor almost came unglued and happened to mention it to some of the women in our church. One of the women said, “That’s not a problem. You’d be surprised at the number of women in church who have a gun in their purse.” The pastor almost had a heart attack!

    • Christine

      Wyoming just passed a permitless concealed carry law. It went into effect July 1st.

    • Mark Are

      What you are mentioning here are LOST FREEDOMS. The PSYCHOPATHS have taken away from us gradually over the years. And we LET THEM. Because we don’t have the guts to pick up one of those guns and use it on them by aiming it right in their face and pulling the trigger. When does the tyrant quit being a tyrant? When it becomes so dangerous that regular work is safer.

  • s c

    Jerry booby, if guns make you nervous, do the obvious thing, and demand that all of the cops and state troopers and everyone else around you who totes a weapon leave their nasty weapons at home. Then, you’ll be safe and sunny, funny California will remain “beautiful.”
    Remember, Jerry, in this world all it takes to get what you want is to wish for it and you’ll automatically get it. You could consider hiring gang members to protect your sorry rump.
    With your connections, you might even be able to remove all weapons from all of the military bases in California. Think positive, booby. You’re still farrrrr out, dude. Life is still beautiful in the land of fruits, nuts and flakes.

    • 45caliber

      sc:

      I’d like to put a sign in the front yards of all these idiots stating, “The owner of this house is against the ownership of all guns and does not own one.”

      • Patriot II

        45, Good Idea!
        what would prevent us from volunteering to put up that sign for them?,, Maybe they’d finally get the point if we did.

  • GRusling

    Why on earth would ANYONE want to carry an unloaded gun when it’s illegal to ever load the thing? They’re heavy, in the way and they make lousy clubs. Without bullets they’re pretty much useless…

    • Cawmun Cents

      BECAUSE A WHOLE COP WOULD BE MUCH HEAVIER.-CC.

  • OneDamnAngryAmerican

    Sorry for the last incoherant sentences, above. Too many paste and deletes. I had more to say, but was afraid the US Marshall SWAT team would be at my door, before I finished typing!

  • OneDamnAngryAmerican

    Oh, just thought about another. This now means that the movie studios can no longer use any type of “gun” in their movies, loaded, or not. (Also, no more civil-war reinactments or cowboy days, either, right?) If they come up wity an exception, then, they are PANDERING TO THOSE “RICH” FOLKS WHO DON’T PAY THEIR TAXES! Put that one in your bong, Jerry. So, are you going to exempt the movie industry? Really? ARE YOU GOING TO SAY THE RICH CAN DO IT BUT THE AVERAGE JOE CANNOT? That ought to help you get reelected! Let’s wait and see.

    PS-Did you know that in the City of Washingtoons, DC, you cannot carry an exposed firearm. TRUE! The 101st Airborne Division can no longer (this happened years ago) carry their weapons, to include “blanks” at their war memorials to give military honors (look it up before you dump on me), and, because Arlington Cemetary is really in Virginia, cannot “legally” transport those weapons through DC. THIS IS A FACT FOLKS. NO GUNS IN DC!

    After Martin Luther King was murdered, I slept in a tent on the White House lawn as a member of the First Army out of Ft. Dix, with my M-14, to protect the President, WITH NO AMMO!

    I hope now, that if troops are ever needed in DC again, that they are never issued ammo, either!

    Another reason why NOBODY should become a member of the armed forces. If it is against the law for your 18 year old daughter to wear a bullet proof vest in Iraq, the law that says she should not carry live ammo in DC to protect our elected officials, should also stand as written!about it. No, our gov’t wouldn’t do chit like that!

    • Vic Bailey

      This is going to piss some people off but it’s still the truth, 1) There is NO SUCH PERSON as Martin Luther King, there IS A Michael Luther King. 2)The government knows where most all shootings occur and that is in Black and Latino neighborhoods, and they DON’T want to stop them. 3)The DemocRATS have made that plain for years! So if you want to stop the killings go to those neighborhoods, if you are real men and stop them! If you won’t then SHUT UP about my guns, that has NEVER been in any kind of violence against, they are for PROTECTION, some people don’t know the difference! Semper Fi.

    • Paul D.

      On the other hand, are there any elected officials in DC who are worth expending ammo to defend?

  • OneDamnAngryAmerican

    Big deal. So, does this mean that they will “now” issue concealed-carry-permits so you can carry-exposed unloaded guns? Makes sense to me (I’m being sarcastic). Issue permits for guns that you can “never” load! Oh, by the way, this law does not pertain to illegal aliens who’se mere possession of “any” (to include a sling-shot!) firearm is in violation of the Gun Control Act of 1968. Duh? What did that guy just say? No, we need to get rid of the 2nd Amendment, to rid guns from “legal” American citizens. Nobody’s got the picture yet, because nobody knows what anybody’s talking about; and, BECAUSE THEY CONFUSE YOU WITH WORDS THAT DON’T MAKE SENSE, THAT THEY WANT YOU TO BELIEVE DO MAKE SENSE! GREAT JOB, KALIFORNIA, IDIOTS & MORONS!

  • No fool

    California has always been known to be filled with fruits and nuts. We can now add spineless pussies to that list too. I’m sure all the gang members are glad to hear that more people are losing their rights to carry.

  • Patriot II

    So does this mean you can Load em now? lol!

  • Daniel Larson

    There was no mention of the number of people who were afraid. A large percentage? small percentage? This apears to be another knee jerk reaction by government (and most likley the press) to control the people and limit their rights as law abiding citizens of a free U.S. We must be careful as there is a wave under foot to distroy the very make-up of this great experiment called a democracy. The up-comming election will have far reaching implications for this country.

    • Patriot II

      There were three People, Dan Brown, Nancy P. and Alec Baldwin, they don’t have to carry, they have enough money to buy Body Guards who carry.

      • independant thinker

        I believe Nancy (plastic face) Pelosi has a CCW permit and carries in addition to her security. She just doesn’t want those who cannot afford large security to have the ability to defend themselves.

  • Morduin00

    Can anyone tell me the purpose behind a law allowing open carry of unloaded firearms? I guess that is just another way of carrying a club.

    That is just as bad a trying to write with a pencil with no lead or to think without a brain… which, considering the other laws that were bills that Brown had signed seems to be the case.

    • http://www.diyyardandhome.com Dan

      Maybe it was a show and tell law so individuals could look like they were a member of Village People???

    • David

      I may be wrong but I belive you were allowed to open carry an unloaded firearm……and have the clip also open carried(in the case of a magazine feed weapon), in the case of a revolver, you can have the rounds, or speed clip, in your pocket.

  • DanB

    This tells me two things.

    One, we have been conditioned to fear guns, or at least those who possess guns. So the progressives have had success there. Cannot blame the gangs wholly on that. They did not teach us to fear the law abiding citizen who owns a gun. Our progressive insiders (teachers and government officials) taught us to fear the law abiding citizen–perhaps in more ways than just this.

    Two, we are ripe for tyranny, or anarchy. One or the other. For as we disarm our law abiding citizens, we give more power to government and anarchists. So they will fight over control of our future. For how many citizens are concerned? 1 in 10? 1 in 100? 1 in 1,000? 1 in 10,000? 1 in 100,000? How many does it take to create a law that favors taking the power away from the people and giving it to government? Somehow I doubt it is as many as 1 in 10 that are calling in concerns about open carry citizens. I suspect this is another example of rule by small numbers, which is also aspects of tyranny and anarchy (though anarchy is usually mob rule–it only takes a small number to control and move the “useful idiots”).

    • Mark Are

      I see you are well versed in what the word “anarchy” means. It simply means NO GOVERNMENT outside of OURSELVES. Why do we need any other? Tell me! Why should we have to have other MEN and WOMEN with GUNS to FORCE laws that are TYRANNICAL on us? Unless you damage someone else in their life, liberty or property there should be no law. Who is DAMAGED by someone wearing a gun? Who is DAMAGED by someone carrying one? Being “nervous” is not being damaged. That is a crock of crap.

  • http://comcast the fisherman

    To many idiots and asses in tha state to carry guns

    • Patriot II

      Do you inlcude Jerry Brown in that?

      • alex

        YES!

    • CJ

      The state was a big looser the last time Brown was Gov. and he has held several positions of power since. Now they elected him back. They obviously have short memories on the left… er, I mean west coast.

    • Robert Smith

      What’s the point in carrying an empty gun?

      Rob

      • joe

        agreed Rob

      • WRH

        They think you’re going to say bang bang

    • http://? Kerry Good

      Open carry with unloaded firearms is nuts! They should first load them!

    • Cawmun Cents

      I have lived in California for most of my life and I must say that the majority of folks here are too stupid to live.
      Does that mean I think they should die?
      No.
      You watch Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom and Marlon Perkins will tell you that the stupid animals dont survive very long on the Seringeti.
      Progressives will tell you that it is no longer survival of the fittest,but that because of the micromanagement of every single facet of life,even the dimwits can survive in todays world.
      I happen to disagree with that sentiment.
      Micromanagement leads to poisoning of the well.
      It leads to poor educational standards,so that union tenure can be kept alive.
      It leads to people being afraid of citizens carrying firearms,because the gang members have taken control of their neighborhoods.
      It leads to the utter destruction of the San Joaquin valley by environ[mental]ists,because of some notion that it is more important to save a key(their term not mine)spieces,than to feed the planets hungry.
      It leads to spending other peoples money at a rate that only the extremely foolhardy would defend.
      Welcome to California.
      Now go home.
      Whorelywood has taken over in near entirety,and the chances of anyone conceptualizing reality,have faded in to obscurity.
      The ruse is so complete that if you go to certain parts of large cities,people on bicycles will give you hard looks as if they should scare you in some hilarious fashion.
      Here you find a person who is used to metrosexuals casting their eyes downward in an”I am non-agressive,and I hope there is a constable lurking nearby”method of madness that has transients thinking they dominate the food chain.
      Thank the progressives for that too.
      This insanity is caused by rampant socialism that threatens the very fabric of civilization.
      Yet it is not observed by those who champion it.
      They dont even see the wreck for which they are headed.
      When thugs on bicycles roam the streets of your capitol,and pursue bullying the patrons of the city,you have anarchy in the making.
      They turn the transient women out on the streets,and reap the benefits of being pimps on a shoestring budget.
      None of the progressives cry out for those who have no voice,but if a union thug needs the soapbox,then hell will be razed to see that he gets to bellow his opine.
      YET….when a law abiding man/woman walks the streets with an unloaded firearm,those bicycle thugs dont feel safe any longer and complain to their local magistrate,levying cause for new legislation to be prompted immediately.
      That is why they elected”Moonbeam”to office.
      They knew they had a champion for their thuggery,when he stepped into office.
      Let them feast on the weak,and let the growing spectre of progressivism become pregnant with the seeds of decent people everywhere’s demise.
      It’s what they voted for.
      It’s what they long for.
      The worshippers of death and the grave grow mightier with every stroke of the pen.
      New laws are really good,right?
      The flowerchildren of the sixties can fianally see their wildest dreams come to fruition.
      Step aside God,and let mankind progress.
      It is the”natural order of things”.
      Push for the extinction of right thinking,and turn it all upside down.
      Shake it violently and see what happens.
      Perhaps a more perfect world will be achieved?
      I would’nt hold my breath waiting for it if I were you.
      -CC.

      • Concealed Assurance

        Cawmun Cents, I wish everyone thought like you. I come from a concealed weapons state with good common strict laws. We didn’t have the problems California has. Here, citizens are naked, crooks are armed!!!

    • Mark Are

      Typically the PSYCHOPATHS in power have never learned how to read…THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED. I’d say to those who are willing to carry them, be ready to shoot anyone who tries to take them away from you. THAT is the REASON the founding fathers put the 2nd amendment into the Constitution, to SHOOT TYRANTS. PERIOD. And I don’t give a crap what kind of clown suit someone is wearing that tries to disarm me. I will consider him my enemy and do everything I can to put him and as many of his slimy psychopathic buddies in the ground with him before they get me.

    • http://personallibertydigest Art fleenor

      From your apparent narrow, brainwashed mind, you have lived in a very tiny part of reality, and think exactly the way Jerry Brown and the rest of the closet communist politicians want you to think. Welcome to the “Peoples Socialist Republic of Kalyfornya”.

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