CA AG Kamala Harris Desperate to Reverse Peruta v San Diego!
We all know the old saying, you know what happens when you assume… Well it appears that California Attorney General Kamala Harris was doing some assuming regarding the critically important case of Peruta v. San Diego that was being considered by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Her assumption being that the 9th Circuit Court would simply follow in its tradition and rule against law abiding gun owners.
Harris’ supposition that the court would rule as she had assumed must have been so secure that she declined to participate in this lawsuit from the beginning. One wonders what was going through her head, maybe something like “ah, we’ve got this one, it’s in the bag” or “we don’t have to work so hard because we know the court’s going to go our way…” Who knows? But it does make you wonder.
Boy was she surprised.
So as to not invite criticism, here is what she said in her press release dated Thursday 27, 2014:
Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today filed a petition in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, on behalf of the State of California, urging the court to review and reverse its decision in Peruta v. County of San Diego.
In its February 13, 2014 Peruta decision, the Ninth Circuit ruled that San Diego County violates the Second Amendment by requiring individuals to show “good cause,” beyond a mere desire to carry a gun, when applying for a concealed-carry weapons permit.
“Local law enforcement must be able to use their discretion to determine who can carry a concealed weapon,” Attorney General Harris said. “I will do everything possible to restore law enforcement’s authority to protect public safety, and so today am calling on the court to review and reverse its decision.”
California state law currently requires individuals to show “good cause” to carry a concealed weapon, but gives local law enforcement control over the permit process. If the Ninth Circuit’s ruling is allowed to take effect, officials throughout the State could be required to issue concealed-carry permits to individuals based on nothing more than the applicant’s assertion that they wish to carry a gun for self-defense.
In San Diego County, concealed-carry permit applicants have, until now, been required to show “good cause” by demonstrating “a set of circumstances that distinguish the applicant from the mainstream and causes him or her to be placed in harm’s way.”
On February 21, 2014 San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore announced he would not seek further review of the court’s ruling.
Now, let’s see if we can translate this into what we think she wanted to say, paragraph by paragraph:
Holy smokes! Are you kidding me? You guys got this all wrong and even though we haven’t lifted a pinky on this case you better tell us that you were just kidding and say that the exact opposite is what you meant.
In your February 13, 2014 Peruta decision, I thought I heard you say that the Second Amendment protects law-abiding citizens from having to give the government any reason other than a desire to protect themselves to show “good cause” for getting a concealed weapons permit. Seriously?
Politically appointed Chiefs and anti-gun Sheriffs should continue to have the ability to use arbitrary and capricious reasons to issue CCWs to anybody they want to. Also, I will do everything possible to restore law enforcement’s authority to be arbitrary and capricious as they see fit, so you better change your mind and say you were just kidding.
State law currently requires people to show “good cause” to carry a concealed weapon, but does not specify what that means so Chiefs and Sheriffs can make it mean whatever they want. If the ruling of the 9th goes into effect, officials throughout the State would have to treat every law-abiding citizen the same and will be required to issue a CCW to anybody who wants to exercise their God-given right to self-defense just because they want one! OMG!
In San Diego County, CCW applicants have always been required to show extra special “good cause” by showing that their circumstances make them more distinguished than the mainstream law-abiding citizen and therefore have a greater need to protect themselves than anyone else and that’s the way it should be…CCW’s for only the special ones.
On February 21, 2014 San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore tucked his tail between his legs and announced that he would not ask the court to do anything else. But I am not surrendering to you or the U.S. Constitution and that’s why I want you to listen to me!
Whew, that was fun…
Here’s the bottom line, the ruling from the 9th Circuit Court was truly stirring. The majority systematically quoted the majority opinion in Heller v Washington DC and McDonald v Chicago. They did serious work on the foundational meaning of the Second Amendment that was inspiring. They followed the instructions handed down by the US Supreme Court and they appropriately pointed out where some of their sister Circuit Courts had erred in their opinions. The descent, on the other hand, criticized the Supreme Court’s majority opinion and justified their arguments by quoting the descenting opinions issued by the Supreme Court…the losers!
This isn’t over and even if something happens where an en banc hearing is announced by the court before March 7th, the words issued by Justice Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain and Justice Consuelo M. Callahan cannot be unwritten. Sooner or later we will be before the U.S. Supreme Court and that’s a good thing…