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LA county sheriff in the limelight
Newsweek has the story. The relevant part:
"The sheriff has issued concealed-weapon permits to such actors as Ben Affleck, and in 1999, less than a year after being sworn in, he set up an “executive reserves” unit that allowed celebrities to wear a badge and carry a gun. All they had to do was take 64 hours of training and pass the department’s background check.
Critics of the program, who said it was nothing more than a sly way for Baca to pay back friends and supporters, were incensed when, less than a month after the unit was initiated, one of those reservists—Scott Zacky of the Zacky Farms chicken dynasty—was stripped of his badge for drawing a gun outside his Bel Air mansion after mistaking a couple on a date for car thieves. The unit was suspended in late 1999 after one member, a wealthy Baca supporter who owns a jewelry store, was arrested for money laundering."
Here's video of the sheriff explaining that he's issued less than 500 CCW permits for the county, including those issued to retired federal agents, judges, and "victims of violent crime." It'd appear that to get one you have to be a campaign contributor, a public official, or already have been victimized.
Comments
Baca? Isn't he the guy who had uniformed officers running errands for Paris Hilton?
Posted by: Letalis at August 1, 2007 07:47 PM
Why yes, he is the guy.
Posted by: Letalis at August 1, 2007 07:49 PM
Similar situation here in Santa Barbara County. Sheriff's Council got badges, CCWs and a heap of trouble for self-dealing. Got the one term Sheriff (Anderson) dumped.
Posted by: RKV at August 1, 2007 09:02 PM
Good thing Georgia is a "shall issue" state.
:D
Posted by: Jonas Salk at August 1, 2007 10:09 PM
I believe that the "friends and supporters of the sherriff get CCW's" was regularly-seen pattern under Michigan's may-issue Concealed-Carry system. (That was before 2001, when "shall-issue" laws were passed.)
Hopefully California sees a similar sanity on this issue.
Posted by: karrde at August 2, 2007 11:45 AM
California? Not likely.
It wasn't all that long ago that the Sacramento County Sheriff got in hot water for issuing CCW permits to people who lived in other counties. Which is definitely against the rules here.
There only attraction had been that they'd contributed significantly to the Sheriff's election campaigns.
Posted by: steveH at August 2, 2007 06:56 PM
Hmmm anyone consider using the gun grabbing lefties own tactics against them? i.e... research how many people of color have been issued CCW's by Baca vs's whites and them double whammy with the fact they are all wealthy. Then statrt screaming Jim Crow laws from the roof tops!
Posted by: Oldcrow at August 3, 2007 05:50 AM