San Diego, CA—Yesterday
Sheriff Bill Gore announced that he wouldn’t appeal the decision in Peruta vs.
County of San Diego.
That of course was the ruling
that struck down California’s ability to obstruct the issuance of concealed weapon
permits to law-abiding people requesting them.
The permits were nearly impossible
to obtain in the state's most populous jurisdictions. Officials had the power to arbitrarily and
capriciously deny permits. Only the
politically powerful, very wealthy or connected applicants got the permits.
Some California Sheriffs
would routinely and nefariously sell the permits to their campaign contributors.
Under the now invalidated law CCW permit applicants had to
prove "moral fitness" and a compelling need for the added protection. Those nebulas factors were so incredibly
vague that they were void. Despotic California sheriffs and police chiefs got away with violating the Second
Amendment rights of citizens for decades.
Several plaintiffs sued and when the case finally reached the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals California’s long-standing but unconstitutional concealed weapon permit law was shot down and invalidated.
Several plaintiffs sued and when the case finally reached the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals California’s long-standing but unconstitutional concealed weapon permit law was shot down and invalidated.
The obvious reason for not appealing
the case to the U.S. Supreme Court is that the high court’s recent rulings in the
Heller and McDonald cases solidly reaffirmed the right to not just keep but to carry arms outside the home.
By not appealing it the gun banners are
seeking to avoid total destruction of their ability to regulate the permits and
violate the privacy of applicants.
Politicians in a few other
Leftists run states don’t want SCOTUS making yet another ruling that would have
an immediate impact on their own various gun bans.
There’s no doubt that these other jurisdictions have been in
communication with California gun ban proponents.
Just what hat does this all mean right
now for California’s millions of gun owners?
It means that prosecution of
cases involving the carrying of concealed weapons by otherwise law-abiding
people is impossible. The law was
invalidated pure and simple.
California must now rewrite
their law to cure the defect. They can’t
just simply create new obstacles to replace the old ones.
Until then
Constitutional carry will be the law of the land. I’m sure a few cops will make some bogus
arrests that will fail in court later.
Anyone currently charged with
a CCW offense would be crazy to enter into a plea agreement. Litigating the matter citing Peruta vs.
County of San Diego along with the Heller and McDonald cases would bring
certain vindication.
There are still serious issues
with non-California residents and thousands of security guards with so-called
Exposed Weapon Permits that need to be addressed.
It would save California
taxpayers millions if the simply took the exposed weapon permits and relabeled them additionally for concealment. The holders of
these permits have already completed background investigation and training requirements. No need to do anything with these permits but
to simply rename them carry permits that allows both exposed and concealed carry.
There is no reason to
redundantly relicense thousands of security guards and private
investigators to deal with parallel requirements and costs. California's Bureau of Investigative and Security Services
has already satisfied any and all present or future needs.
The BISS weapon permit
program that’s already in place has more than adequately addressed all of the
public safety needs and Constitutional questions.
