Cal. CCW Case Illustrates Problem with ‘May Issue’ Laws

One month from this Friday — Jan. 11, 2021 — an arraignment is scheduled in a Santa Clara County courtroom in a case that may clearly illustrate what gun rights activists see as a huge problem with state laws that allow great discretion on the part of law enforcement to decide who gets a license or permit to carry a concealed defensive sidearm.

Last month, a grand jury issued indictments naming Undersheriff Rick Sung and Sheriff’s Capt. James Jensen in an alleged scheme to trade concealed carry licenses for nearly $70,000 worth of iPads for employees of Apple, Inc., the tech giant. Also named in the indictments are Thomas Moyer, Apple’s chief of global security, and Harpreet Chadha, a local insurance broker.

If the court determines there is enough evidence to go forward with prosecution, the results might be bad for the suspects but perhaps worse for anyone defending the “may issue” philosophy. Concealed carry activists believe “may issue” never was a good idea, and in several cases, has apparently turned into a very bad system.

California is one of a minority of states where local officials have broad discretion in the issuance of carry licenses. More states have adopted the “shall issue” approach, where applicants who meet specific qualifications are issued a license/permit. These qualifications may include taking a gun safety course, or simply passing a background check to determine whether the applicant has a clean record.

Then there are the “Constitutional Carry” states, where it is legal to carry a firearm openly or concealed without a license. This commonsense approach holds individuals, rather than all gun owners, responsible for any misbehavior.

In the California case, District Attorney Jeff Rosen issued a statement that alleged, in part, “In the case of four CCW licenses withheld from Apple employees, Undersheriff Sung and Cpt. Jensen managed to extract from Thomas Moyer a promise that Apple would donate iPads to the Sheriff’s Office. The promised donation of 200 iPads worth close to $70,000 was scuttled at the eleventh hour just after August 2, 2019, when Sung and Moyer learned of the search warrant that the District Attorney’s Office executed at the Sheriff’s Office seizing all its CCW license records.”

Back in 2012, then-Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca was sued by the Calguns Foundation and several individuals for the way his agency handled carry permit applications. It amounted to a de facto ban on issuing handgun carry licenses, and in January 2014, a California judge agreed.

https://www.sccgov.org/sites/da/newsroom/newsreleases/Pages/NRA2020/CCW-Undersheriff-Sung-.aspx

https://www.sccgov.org/sites/da/newsroom/newsreleases/Documents/2020NRDocs/CCW%20Indictments%20-%20Sung.pdf

https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/11/23/apples-security-chief-indicted-in-santa-clara-county-sheriff-concealed-gun-permit-scandal/

https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/breaking-calguns-wins-lawsuit-lasd-lee-baca/

Not the Only Trouble Spot

California isn’t the only state where “may issue” is a problem. Elsewhere, the practice is also under legal fire.

As noted in our last installment, the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC), Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) and Maryland Shall Issue, Inc., along with three private citizens, filed a federal lawsuit against Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and State Police Secretary Woodrow Jones III.

But now we’ve got a few more details, and the legal terrain has changed thanks in no small part to President Donald Trump’s nearly four-year effort to fill federal court vacancies with “conservative constitutional” judges rather than liberal activists and the process includes three Supreme Court associate justices.

The gun rights strategy seems to be filing a slug of federal lawsuits in hopes of eventually getting one or more before the high court. Prior to the arrival of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who replaced the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, it is believed conservatives on the court were apprehensive about hearing any more Second Amendment cases because they weren’t sure how Chief Justice John Roberts might tilt, even though he sided with the majority in the Heller (2008) and McDonald (2010) cases more than a decade ago.

But right-to-carry is a critical issue because activists want the court to flesh out what the “right to bear” arms is all about in the Second Amendment and a majority of state constitutions. Heller and McDonald protect the “right to keep” arms, but the court needs to define the right to carry a gun outside the home. This may seem a silly technical sticking point, but gun prohibitionists want us all to believe the Second Amendment is confined to someone’s residence.

The Maryland lawsuit challenges that state’s requirement for carry permit applicants to provide a “good and substantial reason” for wanting to be armed in public. Maryland bureaucrats have been denying applications for years using this as an excuse. The case was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

Several days earlier, on Nov. 4, SAF and FPC filed a federal lawsuit against the City of New York and Police Commissioner Dermot Shea. This case challenges “New York City regulations that essentially combine to ban average law-abiding citizens from carrying loaded handguns outside the home for personal protection,” SAF said in a news release announcing the lawsuit.

The New York City lawsuit came only 48 hours after SAF, FPC and the New Jersey Second Amendment Society filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, challenging the Garden State’s restrictive concealed carry scheme, which also requires a “justifiable need.”

Named as defendants are Clayton Police Chief Andrew Davis, Guttenberg Public Safety Director Robert D. White, Guttenberg Police Officer-in-Charge Juan Barrera, State Police Supt. Patrick J. Callahan and Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal.

https://www.saf.org/saf-files-federal-lawsuit-challenging-maryland-concealed-carry-ban/

https://www.saf.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/1-Complaint.pdf

https://www.saf.org/saf-fpc-challenging-restrictive-n-y-city-carry-law-in-federal-lawsuit/

https://www.saf.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/127127918216.pdf

https://www.saf.org/saf-files-federal-lawsuit-challenging-restrictive-new-jersey-carry-laws/

https://www.saf.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/01-Complaint.pdf

Perhaps the best quick online resource for carry laws is a website called handgunlaw.us. At last look, handgunlaw.us showed the following states still retain their restrictive “may issue” statutes: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.

The main page features a map of the United States. Click on each state and one goes to that specific state where the laws, rules and regulations are spelled out. It also provides information from U.S. territories.

By no coincidence at all, there are links to SAF, National Rifle Association, Gun Owners of America, Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, the American Firearms Institute and the Open Carry website.

Concealed Carry Up

Back in October, the Crime Prevention Research Center updated its annual estimate of the number of active concealed carry licenses in the U.S., and it was startling. We discussed the report at that time.

In the past year, despite the Coronavirus-related shutdown of the permitting process in many states, the number of carry licenses jumped by an estimated 820,000. At the time the report was published, CPRC said there were at least 19.48 million legally licensed armed citizens, which doesn’t include people in states that allow Constitutional Carry.

Considering the outcome of the Nov. 3 election, it’s a safe bet there are even more now.

Joe Biden and his cronies may think it’s a good time to ratchet down on gun owners, but that may be a huge error in judgment. Some pundits are already talking about the 2022 mid-term elections with the potential of flipping the U.S. House back to GOP control and strengthening the U.S. Senate Republican majority to put the brakes on any administration programs.

https://crimeresearch.org/2020/10/new-concealed-carry-report-for-2020-19-48-million-permit-holders-820000-more-than-last-year-despite-many-states-shutting-down-issuing-permits-because-of-the-coronavirus/

By the Numbers
700: Number of homicides in Chicago as of Nov. 23
300: Number of homicides in Baltimore as of Nov. 25
446: Number of homicides in Philadelphia as of Nov.25
57%: Americans who favor stricter gun laws, according to a recent Gallup survey.
85%: Democrats supporting stricter laws on the sale of firearms.
22%: Republicans supporting stricter laws relating to the sale of firearms.
16: Number of states with “Constitutional Carry” laws that allow open or concealed carry without a permit or license.
14: States in which more than 10% of adults are licensed to carry.
26.4%: Women who are licensed to carry in the 14 states that provide data by gender.

Sources: Crime Prevention Research Center, Gallup, Chicago Sun-Times, Baltimore Sun, WCAU News Philadelphia

‘Sorry’ Doesn’t Cut it

The suspect in the June 10 slaying of a Denver woman and wounding of her companion in a case that appears to have been ignited by dog excrement will be arraigned Jan. 4 in a Denver courtroom.

The suspect, identified by Fox News and KDVR as 24-year-old Michael Close, has been held without bond since the fatal shooting. The hostility erupted, according to published reports, when Isabella Thallas, 21, and her boyfriend, Darian Simon, 27, were walking their dog outside the suspect’s apartment.

The dog apparently did what doggies do, and Simon was reportedly in the process of picking up the mess when Close allegedly opened his window, complained about the pile and then opened fire with a semiautomatic rifle. Thallas reportedly died almost instantly but Simon survived.

The suspect had no criminal history, according to KDVR. However, there was a “police contact” six years ago for what the station said was a “mental health hold.” During a preliminary hearing last month, no further details were reportedly submitted.

Close reportedly had lost his job due to the Coronavirus pandemic and he couldn’t use a gym facility because of the shutdown. He also allegedly had a drug abuse problem, Fox News reported.

He faces two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two-counts of first-degree assault and he allegedly violated Colorado’s ban on “high-capacity” magazines, and he faces nine counts on using one during a crime, KDVR said.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/colorado-man-fired-24-shots-argument-dog-poop-that-killed-woman

https://kdvr.com/news/local/suspect-allegedly-fired-24-shots-in-murder-of-woman-walking-dog-judge-denies-bond/