Open Gun Carry debate @ the Commonwealth Club - April 2010

crazycobramantim said:

Greetings all,

New member - first post, but I'm a long time firearm enthusiast who's yet to open carry in my city of Glendora (East San Gabriel Valley).

I know this video is long @ 1 hour - but it has the almost anti-gun chief of police Ken James from Emryville, CA, law professor Frank Zimring from UC Berkeley and Sam Paredes, the executive director of the Gun Owners of Californa Association (and is on the board for the Gun Owners of America) debating last year's open carry ban effort.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-GqhDAkVlg

There is a good discussion and many things that caught my attention, but the following two were particularly good:

At the 15 minute mark, Director Paredes mentions Supreme Court decision that delved into denying someone their civil right solely because someone else may be frightened by that right. No - they weren't talking about open carry or even gun rights, but rather hiring colored people in a service business, since being colored in the 1960's could scare some (white) customers. SCOTUS found that just because someone is afraid of a constitutional right, it does not give anyone the ability to restrict that right.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/cases/topics/tog_discrimination.html

At the 20 minute mark, Police Chief James talks about how much danger there is for people carrying open weapons. Watch the Professors's question to the Chief immediately following his statement. He asks if the Chief is aware of a single California homicide attributed to the Open Carry movement (can't tell if he's asking both since California became a state, or only during his 30-year tenure). Either way - the Chief was unaware of a single instance.

You can listen to this while you work / work out / clean your weapons or do homework as I was. It was a good discussion....

Enjoy!

Tim

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