54 years spent living almost entirely in California before moving to Texas, and I agree. But, that attitude on the part of LEOs is much different today than even just 15 years ago. Back then, I had a friend who was an undercover detective for whatever California's version of the DEA is called (I've forgotten). That made him an employee of the California Department of Justice. I asked him outright what would be the likely consequences if I were stopped late at night, on the way to or from an ATM for instance, and a pistol was found under my seat. He said words to the effect of "well, it's definitely illegal, but the fact is that most officers would probably take a look at the total scenario. If you're just a regular citizen with no arrest record out on a legitimate errand with a legitimate reason to worry about your safety, as in having just gotten a lot of cash out of the ATM at night, then a lot of officers would probably turn you loose and not even confiscate the gun."eddieconcarne wrote:It is sad but true. In my experiences after 40 years of living in CA, I can tell you that most LEO that I have interacted with are opposed to the citizenry carrying anything even resembling a gun. I heard someone say recently that California gun laws were fast approaching Europe's. I've long held that they are worse. I leave this state in less than a week, and can't wait to get to the freedom loving republic of Texas.
Even back then, when gun restrictions were already fairly institutionalized, the LEO community in California was from an earlier and more conservative era; one that recognized gun rights; one that was far more likely to take a holistic view of every situation and come to the appropriate conclusion for each individual situation. In other words, they exercised judgment in light of the fact that we have an RKBA, and that there might be a legitimate reason for a good citizen to arm himself. 15 years later, most of those old-timers have retired, and most California LEOs working today entered the institution of law enforcement at a time when the institutional prejudice for over 20 years now has been that the 2nd Amendment refers to militias, and there is no individual RKBA. It will be interesting to see how they react, ultimately, to McDonald.