Reason.tv: Charles Nichols Challenges California's Open Carry Ban

"It's unconstitutional to ban an entire class of weapons, one that the public find most useful for self-defense," says Charles Nichols, president of California Right To Carry and the man behind the first lawsuit to challenge California's open carry gun ban.

Nichols sat down with Reason.tv's Tim Cavanaugh to discuss his lawsuit, which is actually targeting the original ban from the 1970s that prohibited the carrying of loaded weapons. They discussed his prospects for success, as well as California's extremely strict gun control laws and how they might hold up in a post-DC v. Heller world.

For more details on this case, go here.

Reason.tv covered the open carry ban back in 2011.

About 6:14 minutes. Interview by Tim Cavanaugh. Edited by Zach Weissmueller. Shot by Paul Detrick, Anthony Fisher, and Weissmueller.

Visit Reason.tv for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic updates when new material goes live. 

Comments

[Binky]

In California, your back yard is considered a public place.

FTS.

[Mr. Semi-Logical]

It's *publicly accessible* if there's no fence around it. The logic is that if UPS or FedEx or the postal carrier or meter reader can get to it without your unlocking a gate, then it is publicly accessible.

How that relates to you, for instance, cleaning your gun on a nice sunny day, is really beyond my comprehension, like most government regulations and laws.

[Saulius muliolis]

Same was as a gun hanging in your window is a concealed weapon because it is inside your car, but a bag of drugs lying on your car seat is in plain view to any cop who pulls you over.

[Lauri Osbourne]

I think ALL citizens should be REQUIRED to carry a firearm at ALL times! Crime rate would vanish overnight!

http://www.Anon-Planet.tk

[Libertymike]

Each and every gun law which, in any way, conditions, delays, licenses or otherwise obstructs one's ability to keep and bear arms, is, by definition, unconstitutional.

Note that the language of the second amendment does not admit of any exceptions.

No exceptions for felons or kooks or people entering a courthouse.

The ratifiers voted for the constitution upon the proposition that the words in the document would be constured literally.

They thought through the doomsday / mushroom cloud scenarious which would be advanced by those who sought to give government more power and they rejected the doomsday prophecies as nothing more than the age old pretexts upon which tyrants operate.

[Government]

.....we make it up as we go along!

Thanks for playing!

[KPres]

You can change it. Pass an amendment.

[C. S. P. Schofield]

And this is exactly why I have no time for Gun Control advocates; they don't try to amend the Constitution, they try to end-run around it. I don't own any guns. I am a thumb-fingered idiot with most kinds of power tools, and see no reason to expect that guns would be different. But people who think that good intentions justify ignoring a Constitutional Amendment scare me. They scare me a lot more then the thought of some terra cotta toothed moron with an AK47.

[neoteny]

http://www.thenewamerican.com/.....artial-law

[Charles Nichols]

http://CaliforniaRightToCarry.org

[mm]

If Nichols is successful, CA's streets will ring non-stop with the sound of gunfire and the violence-free peace of America's largest state will be buried under mounds of corpses.

Pay attention good citizens of the golden bear state. Don't let gun fanatics destroy your world.

[the bilover]

Please, see your doctor. You need a med change.

[Suthenboy]

I think mm was being sarcastic. Remember the same lame rhetoric was rife before florida changed their laws allowing people to stand their ground....after the law went into effect absolutely nothing changed.

[dunphy]

YUP. the rhetoric from handgun control inc et al before florida approved "shall issue" carry was "blood will run in the streets", people will shoot each other over minor traffic disputes, etc.

FLA passed shall issue CCW. crime continued a downward pace and only a TINY percentage of those issued a CCW were convicted of ANY crime, especially low %age of gun crimes and only a tiny %age of permittees had their permits rescinded

iow, EVERY prediction they made did not come true

the same people who ridicule several bush era cabinet members for their ridiculous predictions about Iraq are strangely silent in acknowledging handgun control advocates probably have a worse record of predictions than iraq war proponents

THAT is a high hurdle

[C. S. P. Schofield]

There was one very interesting bit of fallout from the passage of Florida's Must Issue law; crooks started targeting rental cars on the roads around Miami's airport. There were multiple news stories on it at the time, with reports about how various car rental companies were reacting. Funny, though; nobody much went into the obvious inference that rental cars were being targeted because it was highly unlikely that they were being driven by a Florida resident with a gun.....

[dunphy]

yes. i remember that. iirc, the rental plates also had some sort of distinguishing feature that the criminals were targeting on. not sure if it was the plate itself or a "hertz" or something frame around the plate

[Suthenboy]

Hey, wait a minute. Arent you the spam troll for the bi site? Ha! Now you are commenting....nice to see you are interested in the issues discussed here. I have no complaint about occasional spam if you are also going to contribute to the discussions here.

[Lurker]

maybe bilover is first.

[Sevo]

mm|3.19.12 @ 8:21PM|#
"If Nichols is successful, CA's streets will ring non-stop with the sound of gunfire and the violence-free peace of America's largest state will be buried under mounds of corpses."

That's pretty good, but you left out the part about it being for the CHILDRUNZ!

[dunphy]

also no reference to guns as a penis substitute, no reference to "what do you want to MAKE everybody carry a gun, no mention of COP KILLER BULLETS, PLASTIC GUNZ, ASSAULT WEAPONZ, WILD WEST or COLUMBINE

[dunphy]

i hope this guy is successful in his endeavor because the way california restricts people's basic rights is simply astounding.

of course i am in now way surprised that such a liberal state is so... statist

the criminal laws there are AMAZING

here in WA, it's not even illegal to be drunk in public. in CA, i know cops who have referenced their law where they can arrest somebody just on suspicion of being under the influence of heroin. not DRIVING. just BEING under the influence. got some track marks and slurred speech - bingo. arrest

fwiw, i have heard that a few rural sheriffs in cali HAVE been approving CCW's (it's a may issue state) which is pretty amazing, but if you live in LA, San Diego, Orange, etc. counties FORGET it unless you got major political pull

i find it lame that *i* can carry in California, but a lawful upstanding california resident cannot

[0x90]

Charles Nichols, eh? Got a brother named Terry? I think we can all see where this is going...

[dale payne]

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[dale payne]

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[ThemApples]

Awsome!

[yeah]

Boy, people sure will pay a lot to see a prolapsed anus on a webcam these days.

[Christain Louboutin Ankle Boot]

Thanks for sharing

[Christain Louboutin Ankle Boot]

Thanks for sharing!!!

[Christain Louboutin Ankle Boot]

Charles Nichols, eh? Got a brother named Terry? I think we can all see where this is going...