California’s Assault On The Second Amendment Continues


By Dell Hill

I’ve often wondered why people insist on demonizing firearms as the “killers of people”, all the while ignoring the fact that a firearm has never leaped from its hiding place and opened fire on ANYONE.  And certainly an unloaded firearm - sans ammunition - is even less likely to perform that feat of magic.

Very sadly, people kill other people and some of them use a firearm for that purpose.  Some use other instruments, such as razor-sharp knives, to do exactly the same thing, but with the exception of knives over a certain blade length, there are few laws preventing we humans from using said knives to take another person’s life.  Very strange, is it not?

Once again, the politicos in California have taken legislative action against firearms (and more specifically, handguns) from being displayed in public.  This time they’ve gone so far as to make it illegal to carry an unloaded gun in public.

Politico reports that Governor Jerry Brown has signed that ban into law, and Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey points out just how foolish the law is...and just how foolish and wrong it’s backers are:

California Gov. Jerry Brown announced Monday that he signed into law a measure that bans handgun owners from openly carrying their weapons in public.

Previous regulations had allowed the open carrying of unloaded handguns in public, but police chiefs and sheriffs objected to the rule because people felt frightened when they saw handguns in public places.

“They are tied up dealing with calls from the public about gun-toting men and women in the coffee shop,” California Assemblyman Antony Portantino, who introduced the bill, said last month. “As law enforcement officials tell me, it’s not safe and someone is going to get hurt.”

Gun rights activists had exercised their right to open carry their unloaded firearms by showing up to public places in large numbers with firearms in holsters, which alarmed some members of the public.

As I explained at the time, this is not only an affront to 2nd Amendment rights, it’s entirely absurd:

The state of California wants to ban a practice that presents no immediate threat, conducted by law-abiding citizens with no record, that has produced no shooting incidents.  Anti-gun advocates would rather waste time on this than, say, solving the massive budgetary and debt problems the state faces, as well as solving the problem by allowing law-abiding citizens to get concealed-carry permits with a “must-issue” law.

This reaches the point of absurdity near the end of the video, when the author of a bill to ban open carry of unloaded weapons, Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, tells Reason TV that the purpose of the 2nd Amendment is to protect property — which doesn’t include the person himself.  That’s actually backwards, even under existing lethal-force-in-self-defense laws.  

People are not permitted to use lethal force to protect property in California, or Minnesota either, with or without carry permits.  (Neither can the police, by the way.)  They can only use lethal force of any kind when faced with an immediate threat in which a reasonable person fears for their own life or of “great bodily harm,” which roughly means losing a limb or an eye, not just getting beaten up.  All the carry permit allows is the ability to have the lethal force at hand if that situation arises; it doesn’t exempt the permit holder from laws defining lethal force in self-defense.  In most cases, and certainly in Minnesota, those laws require a victim to retreat first if possible rather than using the lethal force, sometimes even in their own homes.

(Dell’s Note:  Texas is one state that allows for the use of deadly force to protect one’s property, as well as another human being.)

Instead of solving the problem by allowing law-abiding citizens to get licenses to carry effectively, the state of California has taken further steps to keep them disarmed.  But at least people won’t have to look at nasty guns, even those that have no ammunition in them.  What a win for public safety!”

Read Brother Ed’s entire post by clicking right here.

Now, if we may, let’s slide back to my original point.  This is an unloaded handgun.


This particular weapon costs around $400.  Ammunition for it costs about $20 for a box of 50 rounds.

This is a “pocket knife” that is 3.937 inches in overall length and, therefore, legal to carry just about anywhere in public:

This knife, razor-sharpened, can be used to kill a human being silently and almost instantly.  It costs about $59.95 on E-Bay, and it needs no ammunition.  It’s ready to kill, right out of the box.  Equally deadly knives are available at considerably lower prices and, although they’re “illegal”, you seldom hear of anyone being charged with the crime of possessing one.  And certainly criminals who carry such illegal weapons aren’t too concerned about a criminal charge of possession of an illegal knife - After all, the crime they’ve committed is far, far more serious.

A knife, in the hands of an expert user, is just as deadly as almost any other weapon known to mankind.  So why is all of the emphasis on banning guns?

As a country bumpkin, growing up in Vermont, carrying a pocket knife was as common as wearing a wrist watch.  Being taught how to use firearms safely and effectively was as common as learning to ride a bicycle.  Our primary reason for learning how to safely use firearms and knives was the result of having to hunt and fish to sustain the family’s meat locker.  All of that training was put to instant good use in the military, where the end result was to protect and defend our country.

My advanced infantry training required the expert use of a KNIFE to accomplish our mission goals.  The very same type of knife pictured above was far superior to any handgun, rifle or shotgun to enhance special operations inside enemy lines.

My post-military career as a law enforcement officer required the exact same proficiency with handguns, rifles and shotguns as was required by the United States Army.  It was also required that I learn how to use and defend against knife attacks.  I even carried a boot knife whether I was on or off duty.  Today I carry both - a concealed Ruger LC-9, 9mm semi-automatic pistol (fully loaded!) and an innocent looking, but razor-sharp, Browning lock-back pocket knife.  I would not hesitate to use either or both in a self-defense scenario.

If State’s like California think they’re protecting the people by passing laws banning unloaded guns, they’re sadly mistaken.  The criminals those same citizens face every day WILL be carrying a weapon of some kind, and they WON’T be unloaded.

As our Constitution clearly allows; You have two distinct choices.  1)  Be a gun owner, or 2) Be a victim.  I hope and pray you’re never in a situation where those two choices collide, but, if you are, you at least have a chance to survive by choosing #1.