California: Second Amendment foot dragging

One would think that with the Supreme Court’s trilogy of Second Amendment decisions—Heller (2008)McDonald (2010) and Bruen (2022)--Second Amendment issues would be settled. The Court ruled the Second Amendment is not a second class right. It’s about the right of individuals to keep and bear arms in usual and common use wherever they are. If so, one would not be thinking of Democrats and the Democrat Party.

They know they’ll never be able to impose their “our democracy,” Marxist utopia without disarming Americans. The smarter among them know that’s a practical impossibility, but they so hate Normal Americans, they constantly do everything they can to inconvenience, cancel and otherwise harm them. Blue states pass facially unconstitutional anti-liberty/gun laws knowing it will take millions to defend them and lose. The court cases will take years to resolve, and during that period, they get to stick it to Normals. Blue cities do the same, but on a somewhat smaller scale.

Graphic: X Screenshot

California has always been a leader in anti-liberty/gun cracktivism, though Colorado is saying “hold my beer.” Colorado, however, can wait for another article. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deserves our immediate attention. In California, Sheriffs are responsible for issuing concealed carry permits, and the LA County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) has been slow walking and over-charging those permits. During the Biden’s Handler’s Administration, they got away with it, but there’s a new sheriff in Fedtown:

As part of a broader review of restrictive firearms-related laws in California and other States, the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division today announced an investigation into the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to determine whether it is engaging in a pattern or practice of depriving ordinary, law-abiding Californians of their Second Amendment rights. A recent federal court decision found that “the law and facts [we]re clearly in … favor” of two private plaintiffs who challenged the lengthy eighteen-month delays that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department had imposed when processing their concealed handgun license applications. And the Civil Rights Division has reason to believe that those two plaintiffs are not the only residents of Los Angeles County experiencing similarly long delays that are unduly burdening, or effectively denying, the Second Amendment rights of the people of Los Angeles.

As one might accurately imagine, Democrats are engaging in projection:

Jacob Charles, an associate professor of law at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law who studies the Second Amendment, said he had not seen a similar investigation before. It struck him as “another culture war issue pitting red versus blue” amid a broader flurry of “partisan targeting” by the Trump administration of liberal jurisdictions and groups.

“This has to be seen in the context of Trump attacking law firms, universities, and cities, counties and states who don’t profess fealty to him personally and to his vision,” Charles said. “He’s not even pretending to be a president for all of America.”

Sorry Professor, but this isn’t remotely about “fealty” to Trump. The Bondi DOJ is, for the first time perhaps ever, using the lawful powers of the DOJ to force law firms, universities, cities, etc. to obey the Constitution and federal law, and to force them to stop violating the rights of Americans. That Democrats see that as just another political tactic, as “pitting red versus blue” says all faithful Americans need to know about them.

Conservatives normally dislike “pattern and practice” suits brought by the DIJ, but that’s because they’ve been used almost exclusively to force consent decrees on police agencies. Such decrees give the Federal Government and their appointed cronies absolute power over local police agencies, supposedly to correct human rights violations but actually to impose Democrat political policies. In this case, the DOJ is investigating what appear to be clear and egregious violations of the Constitution, and the remedy is not going to be imposing political preferences on the LASD but forcing it to obey the Constitution and stop violating Californian’s Second Amendment rights.

There is no logistical, lawful reason for the LASD or any agency to take 18 months to issue a concealed carry permit. All that’s required is fingerprinting, a photograph and a records check, all of which can be done digitally. If the applicant meets the statutory requirements without disqualifiers, they’re approved. Even a month is too long in this computer age. If this isn’t being done, it isn’t because of demand or lack of staffing, it’s a malicious political choice.

Finally, in the second Trump Administration, even the People’s Republic of California might be forced to obey the highest law of the land.

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Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor. 

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