I posted some information on how to apply for a CCW permit in California, and mentioned an ongoing effort by Jim March to liberalize (in the real sense of the word) California's permit laws; via email, Mr. March sent me a pretty disturbing PDF file that contains clippings from LA Times articles detailing some abuses of the current system.
Celebrities, politicians, and millionaires are the only people granted CCWs by many (not all) of the issuing authorities in California, and it's nearly impossible for "normal folks" to get the permits that are readily supplied to these privileged few unless you're fortunate enough to live in a city with a fair-minded police chief. For instance, anti-gun Senators Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer fight tooth and nail to enact as many national gun restrictions as possible, and yet they both have permits to carry concealed weapons and they both employ armed bodyguards. Apparently there are different standards for the "elite" and for the rest of us. It's obviously important that they be able to defend themselves from criminals, but shouldn't we all have that right? [Corrected; used to say "should we all..." and it looked like I took the opposite position -- MW.]
Michael wrote:
[..]both have permits to carry concealed weapons and they both employ armed bodyguards. Apparently there are different standards for the "elite" and for the rest of us. It's obviously important that they be able to defend themselves from criminals, but should we all have that right?
Maybe you should read this again:
Amendment II
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
We all do have that right. The requirement for a concealed carry permit is infringement (Eugene Volokh and Glenn Reynolds can both stuff it). Go read your history again if you don't believe it.
Er, yeah, it was supposed to be "shouldn't" in the last line, not "should".
S3: That X is a right does not necessarily mean that right can't be licensed, although it does mean it can't be licensed in such an arbitrary and capricious manner as California CCW. And if you're interested in promoting the RKBA generally, telling two of the most pro-gun law professors around to stuff it does not seem like a very productive approach.
Although I agree that we have a right to carry concealed weapons, I'm not opposed to all weapon restrictions. I wouldn't want my neighbor to build a nuke in his basement, for instance.
Yes, I think a reasonable theory should be that every more-or-less law-abiding citizen should have a right to possess every weapon that he can reasonably use for a law-abiding purpose. Only the CIA has a legitimate use for undetectable guns, should they ever be invented, and only the military has a legitimate use for nukes. The rest of us have a legitimate use for almost everything else, though.
Well, legitimate is in the eye of the beholder; it's important for society to define the term, in order to apply it.
Wrong again Mr Anderson--If anyone has a weapon of any kind for any purpose whatsoever, then WE THE PEOPLE have a right to be able to have equal access to that weapon and all weapons. The government that cannot trust it's citizens with weapons cannot itself be trusted. The point that all weapons control overlooks is that the citizens are the law. We merely appoint trained officers to carry out our instructions. Until a citizen proves him or herself to be a rogue and unworthy of trust, he or she has by birth the right to keep and bear all kinds of arms equal to any and all armies who just may become your next enemy. If you allow the army to be armed better than you yourself are, you beg for enslavement. Check with Czechoslovakia and Pole Poland if you doubt what happens when the government loses fear of you as an armed citizen.
Power corrupts. Absolute power........Remember?
I am proud to say that here in Texas we have the "shall" issue clause. That means if you are an honest citizen without any medical,moral/police problems you are eligible to obtain a ccw. Thanks to our former governor, Geo. Bush he passed the law that allows Texans to carry. I do not leave home without my 1911. Crime? it has been lower and criminals now think twice before commiting a felony..
Sign me " Texan by birth, Cowboy fan by choice"