Public Records Act Request

Michael,

I applaud you for endevoring to continue your battle within a legal framework that obviously is arranged to subvert the rights of the individual.

You know what's funny? There's more time and effort being spent to deny someone a CCW permit that ought to have one, than to protect unarmed civilians from armed criminals. Just an observation.

You know whose fault it is Michael? (That you are being denied a CCW). Everyone's. Yours, Mine, The US population...

We all share the responsibility, through our inaction, of having allowed our government to place us under tyranny. Not an in-your-face tyranny; a very transparent, almost benign kind of situation. It only rears up when confronted.

I don't consider myself to be unstable, or extreme, Michael, but the only winning answer that I seem to land on whenever I ponder things such as this, is a civillian revolution, around the US.

I don't know exactly how we got to the point of where we are today. I guess its like the frog that got boiled...turn the temperature up a little at a time...and he never jumps out of the pot. Then he's, well, screwed.

If all else fails, you can always move down here to Texas. We'll let you carry a concealed handgun!

Good luck; unfortunately, you're going to need it.

Xrlq: What do you think will happen? I don't know what to expect. Do you think they'll deliver a big box of documents, or what?

I don't think you'll be receiving anything. You'll probably have to file a law suit suit to even get their attention.

Is that cynical or realistic?

Good luck!

Dear Mike,

I feel for you, and I would refer you to Kim DuToit's recent advice concerning just this sort of dilemma. I can't recall it verbatim, but something like this...

1. Carry a gun.
2. If your police chief or congressman tells you you can't carry a gun tell them to take a hike.
3. If you are told by your local police or politician to call 911, tell THEM to take a hike.
4. If you are under assult, fire into the target until the threat is removed.
It is better to be alive and under arrest than dead.

Words of wisdom to live by. I agree with you in your quest to obtain a CCW by legal means, but forcing you to do so is unconstitutional, according to the 2nd and 10th amendments to our National Charter. That fact notwithstanding, I would suggest you carry your side arm, no matter what that idiot police chief has to say (see #4 above.), and continue to fight tooth and nail for your GOD GIVEN RIGHT to defend yourself, your family, and your property against criminals. I have noticed some posts from people who live in much more free states, such as Texas, welcoming you to move there, but that is no panecea for any of us who take our 2nd amendment rights seriously. I live in NH, where it is pitifully easy to obtain a CCW, but how long will that last as long as we allow the encroachment on our constitutional rights. Your fight is my fight, even though you are 3,000+ miles removed from me.

I wish you the best of luck in your endeavor, and if I can be of any assistance to you please let me know.

Michael: my guess is that they will rely on every procedural trick in the book to deny the information. Eventually, you'll get it, but even then, using that information to get a permit of your own will be an uphill battle, to say the least.

Follow Anthony's advice at your peril. Thus far, courts are essentially worthless when it comes to the Second Amendment, and no court has held that the Second Amendment guarantees a right to carry concealed. Knowing that you're right and the state is wrong might make you feel better while rotting in prison, but that's all it will do.

Xrlq: Yeah, I don't want to rot in prison. Sigh. Isn't it a misdemeanor the first time, though?

Xlrq...I agree, for the most part.

Mr. Williams, I'm not sure if your FOIR is the same as or replaces a Subpoena duces tecum (release of records) but in any event you may eventually receive some limited information. The Ca 9th Appeals court(?) in a case on point against L.A. County Sheriff, (Sherman Block), (I forget the Plaintiff) said basically the right of others' privacy supercedes the request for information. Having said that the court - or perhaps the Sheriff had already released this information - allowed just the raw numbers of permits issued and denied over a given time.

So, given that The Hawthorne Police Chief may eventually release those numbers, I'm not sure how you may benefit by it. i.e., whether the numbers showed one or one thousand permits were issued and xxxxx# requests denied.

Michael: you are right, carrying without a permit is a misdemeanor, so at least you won't rot there for long. Unless, of course, you end up actually having to use the gun in self-defense and your assailant is a minority. If that happens, the mere fact that your name is Michael *Williams* and your blog is called *Master* of None is a virtual guarantee that you'll get the William Masters treatment.

Plug: if the FOIA request ultimately reveals that no one ever gets a permit to carry in Hawthorne, that might do him some good, as it would tend to show that the P.C. is denying permits without even considering them. Our piss-poor CCW law doesn't require the P.C. to do much, but it does require him to at least consider every application.

The PRAR could show many different kinds of discrimination
1. Only public officials get permits.
2. Some race is disproportionally granted permits (the chief is white and the city is probably majority Hispanic).
3. Family members of police officers are granted permits.
4. Celebrities and rich people are granted permits.

And so forth. All of these are illegal.

Michael: You also might want to contact Chuck Michel, Trutanich-Michel, L.L.P. (310) 548-3703. Chuck was the Atty for many of the cases brought by the Calif. Rifle & Pistol Assoc. to shine some light on the CCW abuses by local chiefs and sheriffs.
Drew (FFL in Downey)

Drew: Thanks a lot for the reference.