The bill that would ban open carry in the state that time forgot California has landed on Governor Jerry Brown’s desk. While gun owners statewide sit on the edges of their seats, Governor Moonbeam, a gun owner himself, hasn’t indicated whether or not he’ll sign the bill into law. If he does, the once-golden state would be the first since 1987 to outlaw open carry.
Meanwhile, the prospect of a gun control measure – anywhere at all – actually becoming law has the little hearts of the poor dears at the Brady Campaign all aflutter.
“Openly carrying a gun with [an ammunition] magazine in your back pocket into Starbucks and other establishments creates a culture of fear and intimidation,” said Brian Malte, director for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “It is irresponsible and dangerous.”
“People in other states look to see what California does,” he said. If Brown signs the bill, “other states will follow suit.”
Not likely. There’s very little about California that other states want to emulate any more. If Brown does sign the bill, it will be a marginal step backwards in the inexorable advance of gun rights across the country. Twenty-three steps forward, one step back. In so many ways – and on gun control in particular – California is no longer the bellwether it once was.
But keep that to yourself. The gun grabbers at Brady and the VPC have so little these days. Let’s not dash their illusions on the cruel, jagged rocks of reality.