[CA] California bans [unloaded] gun toting in public

From California, comes this latest infringement:

California Gov. Jerry Brown announced Monday that he signed into law a measure that bans handgun owners from openly carrying their weapons in public.

Previous regulations had allowed the open carrying of unloaded handguns in public, but police chiefs and sheriffs objected to the rule because people felt frightened when they saw handguns in public places.

“They are tied up dealing with calls from the public about gun-toting men and women in the coffee shop,” California Assemblyman Antony Portantino, who introduced the bill, said last month. “As law enforcement officials tell me, it’s not safe and someone is going to get hurt.” ...

So both loaded and unloaded open carry is now illegal in the Golden State.

[CA] Tehama sheriff leads gun rights suit

From California:

Tehama County Sheriff Clay Parker is passionate about citizens’ rights to bear arms.

So much so, he is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit recently filed in Sacramento by the National Rifle Association/California Rifle and Pistol Association Foundation Legal Action Project challenging state Assembly Bill 962.

When the bill was signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last year, the governor said it “requires vendors of handgun ammunition to keep a log of information on handgun ammunition sales, store ammunition in a safe and secure manner, and require the face-to-face transfer of ammunition sales.”

“The bill is too broad,” Parker said. “What is handgun ammunition? If you ask, no one could tell you. Some people may say a .357 shell is handgun ammunition, but I have a .357 rifle. This bill has to be defined better.”

This isn’t the first time Parker has taken action on the issue of firearms legislation. He took an active part in the lawsuit against Chicago’s long-standing ban on handguns, a case that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The court struck down the ban in June.

“I will continue to fight laws infringing a citizen’s right to bear arms,” Parker stated. “If a law could really do some good, okay. But when they pass laws affecting law abiding citizen’s not the criminals, that is not okay.” ...

Read the rest here.