Legal Commentary

Sacramento County Sheriff Threatens to Issue More Concealed-Carry Permits

By Eugene Volokh

From the KCRA TV site:

Faced with the potential loss of 300 deputies due to budget cuts, the Sacramento County sheriff may consider issuing more concealed weapons permits....

?With the anticipated decrement in patrol staffing, and the resultant potential for inadequate patrol officer staffing, I will have to reconsider the criteria for issuance of CCWs [concealed weapons permits]. Nothing is etched in stone, but as circumstances change, we need to address public safety in an environment with too few patrol officer positions to meet traditional expectations,? [Sacramento County Sheriff John] McGinness said in a statement.

Currently, only about 260 people in Sacramento County carry concealed weapons and their required permits.

?I have to be open to the potential that there will be more people in need of the ability to protect themselves as individuals,? McGinness said....

It doesn?t sound like a ringing endorsement of concealed carry by citizens ? but it does sound like an acknowledgment that people may need guns in public when the police aren?t there to help them. And it of course raises the question: Even if no police officer is laid off, wouldn?t there still be plenty of ?people in need of the ability to protect themselves as individuals? for those times when they?re attacked and no police officer is present?

Thanks to Peter Buxtun for the pointer.

Full post as published by The Volokh Conspiracy on July 09, 2010 (boomark / email).