Bakersfield Area

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Sadly, I am going to have to move back to California in a few months due to family obligations. I left California in 1996 and have lived in Arizona & Colorado since that time. It has been nice to be able to buy a gun, not register it, and OC it locked & loaded whenever it suited me. I am well aware of California's laws regarding OC as well as CC.

My question is, how easy is it to UOC in the Bakersfield area; Do their LEO's tend to harass law abiding citizens as they UOC? I read that getting a CCW is relatively easy in Kern County, and I most likely will do that, but I prefer to OC whenever possible. Any help will be greatly appreciated!


Edited for spelling

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Firepower wrote:

Sadly, I am going to have to move back to California in a few months due to family obligations. I left California in 1996 and have lived in Arizona & Colorado since that time. It has been nice to be able to buy a gun, not register it, and OC it locked & loaded whenever it suited me. I am well aware of California's laws regarding OC as well as CC.

My question is, how easy is it to UOC in the Bakersfield area; Do their LEO's tend to harass law abiding citizens as they UOC? I read that getting a CCW is relitively easy in Kern County, and I most likely will do that, but I prefer to OC whenever possible. Any help will be greatly appreciated!

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Bakersfield has been baptized by at least one individual openly carrying. I havent seen thisperson sincetheir first encounter with both the media and the police though.

http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/81193567.html?video=pop&t=a

If there is a regular and continuous open carry presence in any particular community, the novelty will wear off.. its just getting to the regularand continuous part that seems to be our hangup.

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Thank you for that link. Reading comments to that article by those ignorant statists really boils my blood. What the hell is wrong with people? Can't they read the Constitution, or has public education finally dumbed the masses down into pure mush?

1 more question...If I get a CCW in California, do I forfeit my right to OC as a condition of the permit?

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Firepower wrote:

1 more question...If I get a CCW in California, do I forfeit my right to OC as a condition of the permit?

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Maybe...

Since issuance of CCWs is at the sole discretion of the issuing authority, that power may be abused to control you.

For example, one user here had an OC stop with city police, who unlawfully searched his person and seized his wallet. In that search they found his CCW card, and decided to notify the issuing sheriff of the permitee's OC activities. The sheriff demanded that his subject cease his OC activities. This person admirably refused to be bribed/intimidated/extorted out of his right, but unfortunately lost his privilege to CC. The sheriff revoked the CCW permit he had issued.

So, for now, exercising your right to OC may lead to revocation of your privilege.

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Im new to oc but if you want to meet up I live in the antelope valley.

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Firepower wrote:

1 more question...If I get a CCW in California, do I forfeit my right to OC as a condition of the permit?

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No, but you cannot use the permit to open carry loaded in incorporated cities. Prior to the first of this year, a CA CCW allowed you to OC loaded anywhere you could legally CC, but this is not permitted now.

Kern County is somewhat unique in that they do not have any bans on discharging firearms in unincorporated areas, except in county-owned parks. It is generally legal to open carry loaded in unincorporated Kern Co. since PC 12031 does not apply. This applies to unincorporated communities that are suburbs of Bakersfield such as Oildale and Rosedale, but you must be aware of exactly where the city boundaries are so that you don't accidentally cross into an incorporated city with a loaded firearm.

http://library.municode.com/HTML/16251/level2/T9_C9.20.html - Kern's muni code regarding weapons. Discharge bans were repealed in 2001.

I don't know how well versed the Kern County Sheriffs are on where PC 12031 applies and where it does not, so I can't recommend open carrying loaded near population centers even if it is legal there.