ElTacoGrande
Member
Executive summary: If you're in LA County, make sure you vote in June (get registered now), and vote for anyone except Sheriff Baca. Sheriff Baca is the 2nd-worst sheriff in California in terms of CCW. In fact he's probably the #1 worst in terms of corrupt CCW (SF County sheriff doesn't issue, but at least he's fair in not issuing to anyone except judges).
More detail: Two guys running against Sheriff Baca:
Ken Masse: http://kenmasse.com/
and Don Meredith: http://meredithforsheriff.com/
Both of them are better than Sheriff Baca, simply because no one could possibly be worse. Don Meredith has publicly said that he wants to follow the issuance polices of Sheriff Carona in Orange County. To put it briefly, Sheriff Carona is fair, and he does issue permits in a reasonable way. Not quite shall-issue, and there's quite a bit of hassle in the process, but it's very reasonable by California standards. It would be a huge improvement for us. Ken Masse has not taken as clear a stance as Don Meredith, but still, he would be a lot better than Sheriff Baca.
So the short message: It's important to vote, and vote for anyone but Baca.
Why is this so important? LA County is the largest county in the largest state in the US. LA County is full of the people who broadcast our news, make our movies, and generally influence opinions around the US and around the world. If we can win (even to some small degree) the gun culture war in LA County, it will have affects everywhere else in the world. CCW is the most important part of that victory. Sure, we're not going to get a real shall-issue sheriff, but this is a good first step. We're not going to get shall-issue legislation here either, but getting rid of Sheriff Bacca would be a step in the right direction. Right now there are about 1,600 CCWs in LA County. What if that number were 16,000? That creates a constituency for CCW, even in one of the most liberal areas of the country. We need that constituency. That is the kind of building block that we use to start building momentum for a shall-issue law in CA, or other similar reforms.
So, if you're in LA County, register and VOTE, anyone but Sheriff Baca. If you're not in LA, you could still help out in this campaign, or just send a polite email thanking them for their support of CCW.
(Edit: Mods, could this be made sticky? This really is as important as the CCW fight in KS or any other place.)
More detail: Two guys running against Sheriff Baca:
Ken Masse: http://kenmasse.com/
and Don Meredith: http://meredithforsheriff.com/
Both of them are better than Sheriff Baca, simply because no one could possibly be worse. Don Meredith has publicly said that he wants to follow the issuance polices of Sheriff Carona in Orange County. To put it briefly, Sheriff Carona is fair, and he does issue permits in a reasonable way. Not quite shall-issue, and there's quite a bit of hassle in the process, but it's very reasonable by California standards. It would be a huge improvement for us. Ken Masse has not taken as clear a stance as Don Meredith, but still, he would be a lot better than Sheriff Baca.
So the short message: It's important to vote, and vote for anyone but Baca.
Why is this so important? LA County is the largest county in the largest state in the US. LA County is full of the people who broadcast our news, make our movies, and generally influence opinions around the US and around the world. If we can win (even to some small degree) the gun culture war in LA County, it will have affects everywhere else in the world. CCW is the most important part of that victory. Sure, we're not going to get a real shall-issue sheriff, but this is a good first step. We're not going to get shall-issue legislation here either, but getting rid of Sheriff Bacca would be a step in the right direction. Right now there are about 1,600 CCWs in LA County. What if that number were 16,000? That creates a constituency for CCW, even in one of the most liberal areas of the country. We need that constituency. That is the kind of building block that we use to start building momentum for a shall-issue law in CA, or other similar reforms.
So, if you're in LA County, register and VOTE, anyone but Sheriff Baca. If you're not in LA, you could still help out in this campaign, or just send a polite email thanking them for their support of CCW.
(Edit: Mods, could this be made sticky? This really is as important as the CCW fight in KS or any other place.)
Last edited: