California Open Carry Bill Passes State Senate Committee
A bill that would make it illegal to openly carry an unloaded handgun in California is moving its way through the State Senate.
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A bill that would make it illegal to openly carry an unloaded handgun in public was passed by a vote of 4-2 by the State Senate Public Safety Committee on Tuesday, June 7.
Anthony Portantino, D-La Canada Flintridge, first introduced the bill, called AB 144.
“Carrying an unloaded gun isn’t as innocent as it seems,” Portantino said in a prepared statement. “It only takes a few seconds to load a gun and fire.”
If the bill is passed, openly carrying an unloaded gun would be a misdemeanor, meaning people in violation could be punished with up to one year in jail and/or a $1000 fine.
Open carry is currently legal in California, though with certain restrictions.
For example, the firearm must be unconcealed, unloaded and may not be carried in prohibited areas like school zones, post offices, state parks and government buildings.
The bill will now go to Senate Appropriations for fiscal consideration, according to Wendy Gordon, a spokesperson for Portantino.
"When average Californians go to the mall, movies or Starbucks they shouldn’t face tense situations where law enforcement officials are called out to investigate openly carried firearms,” said Portantino in a prepared statement. “Our limited resources should not be diverted from real crime situations. Open Carry puts the public in danger as well as law enforcement personnel.”
In an earlier article, Patch spoke with Sam Paredes, chief lobbyist for the Gun Owners for California group.
"It's a symbolic solution to a non-existent problem," Paredes said, noting that open carry has never been linked to causing a crime.
AB 144 has support from the California Police Chiefs Association, PORAC- representing rank-and-file police officers, and L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca. In addition, the cities of Los Angeles, West Hollywood and Beverly Hills, and The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence have also jumped on board to show support.
Comments (4)
It should be fully Legal, With the huge amount of criminals being released into the populaces people need to defend them selfs. Many other states have OC and I have yet to see a blood bath of open carriers. People say I should not carry because it's not the Wild West. I say I carry because its much worse. Only 3 people died at the at the O.K. Corral and its a part of our nations history. If 3 people died in a 30 sec shootout today It might not make the news. And in the end gun laws only hurt law abiding citizens. And come one think about this as well. Criminals conceal weapons (and not in a holster) Open carry is a statement saying I am not hiding anything.
As Parades said, "It's a symbolic solution to a non-existent problem". This is just another "discovered" avenue to prevent citizens from owning guns. Even without a second amendment, the right of self defense is a given. Once, wrestling might have done the job. Today, guns are necessary. The reason the police organizations are on board with the proposal makes sense only from their viewpoint. If I were a police officer, I wouldn't want anyone to own guns but me. However, the sad fact is, that the police are minutes away when seconds count.
As an afterthought, Is this bill just a campaign ploy by Portantino to gain support by introducing an "answer" to a non-existent problem?
Look, the short and sweet is this... The Constitution is a contract. In that contract, the right to bear arms was purposely omitted when it was signed. We (the people) did not give them permission to regulate firearms.
The second amendment was a concession of the states who were afraid that the government would try to regulate firearms ANYWAY. The founders, and the states agreed to include it, in fear that the government would do what they are doing now.
But you know what? The government no longer cares about securing liberties. The government no longer cares about individual freedom. The government no longer cares that they suck as much as 55% of our income right out of our pockets. The government does not care about being a Republic... as long as they get to tell us what to do.
So they regulate firearms, and the people that obey the regulations get killed by those who do not.
So now, the government has no problem killing us to make it's point.
I think it's time to consider replacing the government of California.