I received an email today discussing the current state of affairs in California regarding the concealed carry weapons license. It appears that even with the recent ruling from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco some departments are still refusing to honor the law of the land.
A sheep’s mindset
I was surprised during a side bar discussion with members of this past Concealed Carry Tactics class some were unable to obtain a license. Many commented they were told they did not have a “heighten good cause” or in essence a “may” issue as opposed to the “shall” issue the courts handed down. They pretty much were surprised to learn the decision was in direct opposition to what the courts filed. With all due respect they just went with it, never contested the decision so you can’t really complain about the outcome.
Big brother
It’s no secret I’m a big proponent for being informed and while I am not all knowing I like to think that topics that are important to me I take seriously and research. The effort needed to enforce the law will take work, it’s unfortunate, but that appears to be the case here. It all starts with being familiar with your constitutional rights. As a law abiding citizen you cannot help but be a little intimidated by law enforcement, there is this natural acceptance of right and wrong. I mean after all their job is to enforce the law.
It does set a terrible precedence of public confidence in a time where the economy is tough and folks are just trying to make ends meet. If a law enforcement officer can choose not only to ignore the law, but in the process violate constitutional rights it has far reaching implications. Some will argue this is an isolated incident and departments are having a hard time adjusting to the new law. I’m willing to accept that to a certain degree.
Running a mock
However, at a certain point you cannot continue to accept the current status. At some point you have to say enough is enough. Regrettably, it takes the threat of a lawsuit to get many to do the right thing, we have seen it countless times. It’s unfortunate as it wastes, time, energy and money, but sometimes there are no other alternatives. If you want your rights to be protected you will have to put some effort into it and right now there is a case being built against one county in California.
Case in point
Riverside County Sheriff Sniff is being accused of violating constitutional rights by denying a “shall” issue practice to his constitutes. There appears to be roughly 2 million people in the country and approximately 800 licenses have been issued. That seems pretty lopsided and there was a time when you didn’t have a choice in the matter, but not any more thanks to the recent ruling.
If you want to get involved, there is a local initiative whose objective is to seek compliance with the law and issue license to those who pass a background check. If you live in or near, you can get involved. If you know someone who lives there, you can inform them so they can get involved as well. The only thing is you are going to need to do a little work, I’m not going to do everything.
