News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, March 7, 2014

CGF Publishes New Resources to Help Californians Acquire a Handgun Carry License

ROSEVILLE, CA – Following the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' recent affirmations of the fundamental, individual Second Amendment right to carry handguns in public for self-defense, Roseville-based gun rights group The Calguns Foundation has published new resources to assist law-abiding Californians with the process of applying for a license to carry.
"One important element of our Carry License Compliance Initiative is to educate people on the laws and process," said Executive Director Brandon Combs. "The information barrier has been a huge problem in the past, but we're confident that our new tools will help thousands of Californians exercise their Second Amendment rights."
In addition to expanded informational offerings, the Foundation has created a new California Carry License (LTC/CCW) Issue Reporting System, a service that applicants can use to report problems with a local law enforcement agency's application policy or practice.
"By creating a database of the personal experiences of carry license applicants from across the state, we will gain a comprehensive understanding of what's actually happening out there," explained Combs. "These reports will help us determine which licensing authorities to focus our Compliance Initiative resources on, and, when necessary, take legal action against."
Combs noted that the Foundation released its new carry license projections in February, which showed the number of Californians licensed to carry handguns skyrocketing during the first year of effective "shall-issue" regulations.
Using information pulled from the California Department of Justice and the issuance statistics of other "shall-issue" states across the nation, The Calguns Foundation estimated that the number of California carry licensees will grow over 1000%, from about 56,000 today to as many as 1,000,000 in 2015.
"There's no question that the public demand is there," said Combs. "The right to carry is the biggest, most culturally-significant issue in gun rights today. We're going to do whatever it takes to make sure that all law-abiding people are free to exercise their Second Amendment civil rights in California."
Those interested in applying for a California carry license can access The Calguns Foundation's FAQs, download state-standard application forms, review legal information, and report unconstitutional or unlawful policies through its website at http://www.calgunsfoundation.org/carry.
The Calguns Foundation (www.calgunsfoundation.org) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that serves its members, supporters, and the public through educational, cultural, and judicial efforts to defend and advance Second Amendment and related civil rights.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, March 5, 2014

SAF, CGF Score Ninth Circuit Victory in Richards Carry Case

BELLEVUE, WA, and ROSEVILLE, CA – The Second Amendment Foundation and The Calguns Foundation earned a significant victory today when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the case of Richards v. Prieto, challenging the handgun carry license issuing policy of Yolo County, California, Sheriff Ed Prieto.
“Today’s ruling reinforces the Second Amendment’s application  to state and local governments, and will help clear the way for more California citizens to exercise their right to bear arms,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “California officials have been put on notice that they can no longer treat the Second Amendment as a heavily-regulated government privilege.”
The case was originally filed in 2009 as Sykes v. McGinness, and challenged not only Yolo County’s policies, but Sacramento County’s then-restrictive practices as well. SAF, Calguns and two private citizens, Adam Richards and Brett Stewart, continued pursuing the case against Yolo County after Sacramento County agreed to relax its policy. Plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Alan Gura and Don Kilmer.
“We are confident that the win today will stand the test of time,” said Calguns Foundation Chairman Gene Hoffman.
The Richards case was argued at the same time, and to the same panel, that earlier decided Peruta v. County of San Diego, a similar case challenging overly-restrictive carry license policies. Yolo County and Sheriff Prieto argued that their policies were distinguishable from those struck down in Peruta, but apparently, the three-judge panel unanimously disagreed.
“The Ninth Circuit's decision moves our Carry License Compliance Initiative forward,” explained CGF Executive Director Brandon Combs. “We’re already preparing the next phase of litigation to ensure that all law-abiding Californians can exercise their right to bear arms.”
Gottlieb noted that the battle over right-to-carry laws is far from over, but today’s Ninth Circuit decision reaffirms that court’s earlier ruling in the Peruta case and “moves the ball another step forward.”
“We will pursue Second Amendment affirmation wherever and whenever such cases are possible as SAF fights to win back gun rights one lawsuit at a time,” Gottlieb stated.
California carry license applicants can download state-standard application forms, legal information, and report unconstitutional policies or process issues at http://old.calgunsfoundation.org/carry.

The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms.  Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.
The Calguns Foundation (www.calgunsfoundation.org) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that serves its members, supporters, and the public through educational, cultural, and judicial efforts to defend and advance Second Amendment and related civil rights.

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This morning, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals entered judgment in our Richards v. Prieto 'right to bear' lawsuit that challenged Yolo County Sheriff Ed Prieto's policy as unconstitutional. In the memorandum, the Court concluded that "the district court in this case erred in denying Richard’s motion for summary judgment because the Yolo County policy impermissibly infringes on the Second Amendment right to bear arms in lawful self-defense."
We and Second Amendment Foundation will have more on this case later today.
Read the Court documents: (1) Memorandum (2) Concurrence

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California takes a step towards “shall-issue” handgun carry licensing

In a major decision today, the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that California’s “good cause” requirement for handgun carry licenses violates the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.

In May 2009, during a short period when the federal Second Amendment legally applied to California through the Ninth Circuit’s Nordyke v. King decision, civil rights attorneys Alan Gura and Donald Kilmer filed a federal right-to-carry lawsuit against Sacramento County’s then-sheriff John McGinness and Yolo County Sheriff Ed Prieto on behalf of The Calguns Foundation (CGF), the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), and a number of individual plaintiffs. That lawsuit, then named Sykes v. McGinness, challenged the California statutes requiring “good cause” and “good moral character” as facially unconstitutional. The Sykes case also challenged the two sheriffs’ local policies as unconstitutional “as-applied” to the individual plaintiffs’ facts. Sacramento County eventually settled out of the lawsuit by agreeing to implement a “shall-issue” policy; the case continued against Yolo County and Yolo County Sheriff Ed Prieto as Richards v. Prieto.

Months after the Sykes case was filed, a lawsuit that replicated the CGF/SAF lawsuit was filed in San Diego County by Mr. Edward Peruta. Thankfully, the National Rifle Association intervened in the Peruta matter, adding new plaintiffs and significant resources to the case’s legal team including noted civil rights law firm Michel & Associates as well as former Solicitor General Paul Clement. The Peruta case result today is due in large part to the strength of the arguments mirrored from the Sykes lawsuit as well as the excellent legal work by Michel & Associates and Mr. Clement.

Though the Richards and Peruta cases were heard by the same three judge Ninth Circuit panel on the same day, the Court has only released its opinion on the Peruta matter so far. We look forward to the Court's Richards decision and continuing our efforts to ensure that all law-abiding Californians have an accessible way to fully exercise their right to bear arms for self-defense.

The Calguns Foundation thanks the National Rifle Association, California Rifle & Pistol Association, Michel & Associates, and Mr. Paul Clement for their fantastic work to advance the fundamental Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms and congratulates them on their very important victory for all law-abiding Californians.

For more on these cases and the legal status of the right to bear arms (carry) in California, please visit http://www.calgunsfoundation.org/carry.

The Calguns Foundation (www.calgunsfoundation.org) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that serves its members, supporters, and the public through educational, cultural, and judicial efforts to defend and advance Second Amendment and related civil rights. Supporters may visit www.calgunsfoundation.org/donate to join or donate to CGF.

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Earlier today, The Calguns Foundation sent an urgent letter to Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Speaker of the Assembly John A. Pérez formally requesting that the Legislature move to end unconstitutional arrests, raids, searches, and property seizures under the Department of Justice's "Armed & Prohibited Persons System" (APPS) disarmament program.
In the letter, Executive Director Brandon Combs said that "the Attorney General’s improper enforcement of the DOJ’s [APPS system] has created a circumstance under which some individual gun owners who are eligible under state and federal law to possess and acquire firearms are targeted by forceful disarmament activities that the Legislature intended to be directed at prohibited persons (such as violent convicted criminals and the adjudicated mentally ill)."
The letter goes on to say that "[i]nstead of taking appropriate measures to confirm a bona fide prohibiting condition in a person’s criminal and mental health history, such as acquiring dispositive court records, DOJ and other law enforcement agencies appear to be relying exclusively on the APPS database – a system that the Department knows quite well to be terminally ineffective."
The Calguns Foundation believes that the Legislature must act decisively to hold DOJ accountable and ensure that law-abiding Californians need not fear their government.
A copy of the letter can be viewed and downloaded at http://www.calgunsfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/cgf_steinberg-perez-APPS-2014-2-10.pdf.
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