Calif. lawmaker takes aim at guns carried publicly

By SAMANTHA YOUNG Associated Press Writer
Posted: 04/18/2010 10:00:42 AM PDT
Updated: 04/18/2010 10:00:43 AM PDT

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—Do gun-toters pose a danger when they carry their weapons in public, even if they're unloaded?
Some California lawmakers think they do and want to rein in a growing trend among Second Amendment advocates who grab their handgun when they reach for the car keys and head to the supermarket.
"What I'm concerned about is people who have no training can carry a gun for no other purpose than to make a public statement," said the bill's author Democratic Assemblywoman Lori Saldana of San Diego.
Starbucks caused a nationwide stir recently when it allowed so-called open-carry advocates to bring their weapons into its coffee houses in the states that allow it. But several retailers have banned weapons in their stores, including Peet's Coffee & Tea and California Pizza Kitchen.
If signed into law, California would be the fourth state to ban people from wearing guns openly, according to the Legal Community Against Violence, a public interest law center based in San Francisco.
Florida, Illinois, Texas and the District of Columbia have a similar open-carry ban.
California and 34 other states allow people to carry a gun without a license. However, only California, North Dakota and Utah require that the weapon be unloaded.
Gun owners in the 12 other states must have a license or permit to carry a handgun, said Benjamin Van Houten, an attorney at the law center. Residents of Alaska and Vermont can carry a loaded gun without a license, while Arizona residents will be allowed to do so as early as this summer under a bill signed last week.
In California, only gun owners with a concealed-weapons permit can carry a loaded weapon, which would not change under the Saldana bill.
Emeryville Police Chief Ken James, a member of the California Police Chiefs Association, said open-carry laws have been on the books since the late 1960s, but gun advocates have only recently begun to demonstrate their right to carry a gun.
"Officers are taught from Day 1 in the academy that guns are a threat," said James, whose association is sponsoring the bill. "This open carry places officers in a position between a rock and a hard spot."
The policy also costs taxpayers and diverts law enforcement from investigating crimes whenever police officers are called to respond to a report of someone wearing a gun, Saldana said. Gun owners say unloaded guns pose no threat to the public.
"If you can't carry loaded, then it's really just a waste of time to ban it because you're asking law-abiding people to disarm themselves from an object that does no harm to anyone because it's unloaded," said Rachel Parsons, a spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association. "In a time when there's limited taxpayer funds, passing these additional laws that mean absolutely nothing is a waste of taxpayer dollars."
Under current California law, gun owners are allowed to carry ammunition as long as it's not in the weapon. Saldana and other critics say that proximity adds to the public-safety threat.
During a recent news conference, Saldana played a video that showed a person can load a gun in seconds.
Previous attempts to prohibit open-carry of guns have stalled in the Assembly. The chamber's Public Safety Committee is scheduled to hear the Saldana bill Tuesday.
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, the committee's chairman, supports the ban.
"Whether a gun is loaded or not, it's still an act of intimidation and bullying," Ammiano said.
Saldana said she hopes Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will sign her bill because he has been responsive to law enforcement concerns in the past. Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Rachel Arrezola said the governor has not taken a position.

RESPONSE
The real issue comes from the fear in the minds of politicians that legislate statutes, regulations and laws that tax, seize property and use the threat of violence to get their way.

There is an expression that says "take one for the team". A majority of these people in government are more afraid of taking one for themselves based upon a lack of immunity to lead migration received for incompetence, thievery or a denial of rights to others..

They should be more afraid of more common objects such as tradesmen would carry or sports enthusiasts.

Worrying about the seconds it takes to load a gun is tomfoolery. Worrying about why somebody would perceive them as a insufferable and despicably scurrilous POS that deserves life cessation would be time better spent.

Worrying about a government run healthcare system that has a computer glitch that does not recognize their status for special treatment outside of the two aspirin and call me in the morning treatment might give them more pause than a loaded or unloaded gun.

Protecting the right to overtly and covertly bully people under the guise of wisdom and law and order is diminishing this once great country.

These politicos and bureaucrats have a need to be exalted to a position of superiority to gaze out over the huddled masses. Might I suggest a public gallows would offer them just such a view.