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So I flew into Commiefornia last night. Even if I wanted to go through the hassle of bringing a gun on a plane into Commiefornia (doable, but a hassle), I can't carry one here, and I can't even legally have one in the car unless it is properly stored in a locked case, unloaded and useless.....bottom line, left guns at home.

Next item: knives. Not one of the EDC knives I use are legal in Commiefornia. My CRKT's folding blade is too long, and both my Kershaw and Gerber open with mechanisms that are no longer legal here.....bottom line, left all my knives at home, except one: a Victorinox "Champion" I've owned for several decades:

As you can see, the time spent trying to select which implement of destruction to deploy would seal my doom. A very useful knife, but virtually worthless for SD.

BTW, ONE AGAIN my trusty keyring Swiss-Tech Utili-Key sailed right through the TSA inspection, proving ONCE AGAIN that it is all theater.

However, again you can see that this is not a serious self-defense tool.

So finally, I am reduced to my trusty shillelagh.


I never travel without this thing, in no small part because humping luggage and carryon bags around an airport always eventually cripples me. My day yesterday, after parking the car at DFW (twice, because Spirit Air's website gave an incorrect gate number for the flight), dealing with two DFW terminals, a LAX terminal, a bus ride from the airport to the Hertz facility, a loooooooooooooong line at Hertz (confirming once again that online reservations are pointless), and 3 hour drive north to our hotel in Santa Maria, ended with me limping to our hotel room—grateful that I brought a cane along.

But the main reason that I bring the cane is because it is the ONE means of self-defense that slides below the radar with TSA, the airlines, and what passes for the Commiefornia criminal justice system. This thing is a veritable club. I would hate to be on the receiving end of a solid homerun swat with this thing.....not to mention the value of a cane/staff/stick used as a thrusting implement to keep others at bay.

I feel like I have flown into a foreign land. I came for a good reason, but honest to God, I can't wait to get Texas soil back under my feet.

The cane is not a weapon until you indicate that you are carrying it as a weapon. Then it becomes a 'deadly weapon' under CA law. Therefore the only reason you are carrying it is to assist in walking.

texanjoker wrote:The cane is not a weapon until you indicate that you are carrying it as a weapon. Then it becomes a 'deadly weapon' under CA law. Therefore the only reason you are carrying it is to assist in walking.

Exactly. I am counting on two things:

1. The California Attorney General does not read these pages; and
2. He doesn't know my identity.

The Annoyed Man wrote:

texanjoker wrote:The cane is not a weapon until you indicate that you are carrying it as a weapon. Then it becomes a 'deadly weapon' under CA law. Therefore the only reason you are carrying it is to assist in walking.

Exactly. I am counting on two things:

1. The California Attorney General does not read these pages; and
2. He doesn't know my identity.

Your door is about to be knocked on

I don't know TAM, the corkscrew on that Swiss Army Knife looks like it could do some real damage....

Get a tactical illumination tool, really bright flashlights at 120+ lumens can temporarily blind a person at night. The make them in excess of 500 lumens in a hand held package. My lights always fly under the radar

TAM, don't worry. I'm sure you are fully protected by all of those anti-gun laws that all the would be criminals in that state surely abide by. And besides, Sen. Dianne Feinstein is there to protect you too!

psijac wrote:Get a tactical illumination tool, really bright flashlights at 120+ lumens can temporarily blind a person at night. The make them in excess of 500 lumens in a hand held package. My lights always fly under the radar

I forgot to mention my light.... a 360 lumen 4Sevens Quark "X" 123² Tactical, which always travels with me.

For the purposes of California law, it's not a weapon until I state that I carry it to blind someone.

You have e cell phone. So, if you get into a pinch you can always call 911.

Ahh Man I feel sorry for you having to go to CA to begin with
Shall pray for your safe return

Stay safe TAM and hurry home.

Enjoy Santa Maria even if unarmed. The SLO area is where I went to school so I'm rather partial to it, even if it is Commiefornia.

SQLGeek wrote:Enjoy Santa Maria even if unarmed. The SLO area is where I went to school so I'm rather partial to it, even if it is Commiefornia.

Oh, it's real pretty, and the weather is nice, and the pace of life is slow, and people are relaxed. It's all enjoyable..........and naked. My aunt is the local "grand doyen" of community theater and pretty much ran the Santa Maria community theater for decades. My uncle Tom, who passed away a couple of years ago, owned a popular photography studio in town and shot all the high school yearbook and graduation pictures and most of the weddings. They are VERY plugged into the community. My aunt's son is Bryn Smith, who had a moderately successful major league pitching career (Expos 1981-89, Cardinals 1990-1992, Rockies 1993). He made a small fortune in baseball, invested it wisely, and now his "work" consists of making sure that the bass pond and putting course on his property don't wilt for lack of attention, lending his name to local charity work, and coaching little league ball and collegiate summer season ball. For them, it's an idyllic existence.

Bryn's very large house is on a very large property outside the hamlet of Orcutt, which is immediately south of Santa Maria. We're staying at the Radisson hotel which is right next to the postage stamp airport, and about 4 miles from Bryn's house. It's a very relaxing place. But everything outside of it is like the land of the lotus eaters.

Unfortunately, my aunt got badly hurt the day before we arrived on Friday. On Thursday night, my cousin Tom, Bryn's older brother, was dropping her off at her house. She normally drives her own car into the garage and enters the house from there, but this time, she was entering from her front door—which she normally never does. She tripped on a very small front step and fell forward. She put her arm out to break her fall and broke her right humerus mid shaft, and she struck her head on the flashing at the bottom of the door and sliced her head open from above her eyebrows to the top of her crown. So my cousins had to get her out of the hospital Saturday morning for her own birthday party.........not that Meg would ever let something like that stop the show. (She's an old school Hollywood trooper from a day when Hollywood kept things clean and gave patriotism its proper due. She was in the industry, friends with people like Cary Grant and Clark Gable, and Jane Russell was her best friend.)

So Meg spent the day ensconced in a plush armchair which had been carried out to the patio, in a flaming orange mumu, big sunglasses to cover two shiners, and a straw hat covering the gauze her head was wrapped in, while her acolytes gathered around her as she dispensed her blessings. She was like a mafia godfather in drag. It was hilarious. "Meg" is short for "Omega," her full name, and she truly is the end of that era of Hollywood.

I will say this....Meg is, or was, one of those uniquely California republicans.....which means that she is a liberal.....and she is vehemently anti-2nd Amendment, unless we interpret it to exclude anything except muskets. I found some recent letters to the editor of the local paper which she wrote, including a recent one in January of this year, in which she calls the NRA evil, and accuses people who own "assault rifles" of "hiding behind" the 2nd Amendment. My cousin Bryn is a horse of a different feather. He's not a gun collector, but he is an avid bird hunter so I know he owns at least one shotgun. He has a feral hog problem and he has a buddy with an AR10 and night vision equipment who comes over to fix that for him. And there were several other pro-gun people at the party, including someone who gave up his FFL because he had it more as a hobby and it wasn't worth the hassle from BATFE over the 8 or 10 guns he sold each year.

So in this environment, I am treading lightly, refusing to discuss politics, and just enjoying being with my family. Tomorrow, it's home sweet home, and I've just finished upgrading our seats on the return flight. Life is good.