Next Tuesday, Orange County citizens will choose between three candidates for OC Sheriff. One of the central issues—and something which can directly affect our lives—is permits to carry concealed weapons. The sheriff has the responsibility to issue these permits and which candidate wins next week can make a difference on who is packing a gun in their purse, briefcase, or coat pocket.

According to Fred Peters, a local attorney who has researched the issue, “If an individual applies with the sheriff's office for a CCW permit, and they meet the minimum criteria laid out by the state, the Sheriff still has discretion whether to issue a permit or not. This system has led to widespread criticism that Sheriffs abuse this authority. In fact, Sheriffs have used this language and their role to effectively ban guns in some jurisdictions--like San Francisco-- and the issue has led most states to change to a more rigid "shall-issue" law, where the Sheriff's office has no discretion to deny an applicant who meets the State's requirements.”

The basic issue comes from the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. All three candidates express their firm support for that right—it’s not likely OC would elect a sheriff who didn’t. But, their approaches are not the same and the differences, beyond the direct affect on who can carry a concealed weapon, tell us something about the three candidates.

The policy of one candidate—current OC Sheriff Sandra Hutchins—is posted on the web site for all to see. Click here to visit the site.

This policy explicitly states “the applicant should articulate the threat as it applies personally to the applicant, his / her family or employees. Non-specific, general concerns about personal safety are insufficient.”

To get a real world perspective on how this policy is actually applied, we went undercover, i.e., we didn’t identify ourselves as reporters, to get the scoop from the person at the Orange County Sheriff’s Office who handles CCW applications. Melisa Soto, OCSD Office Specialist for CCW, told www.OC180NEWS.com “if you just want to protect yourself, she {Sheriff Hutchins} will not issue the CCW based off that reason only.”

But, that’s not the end of it. “We try to approve everyone that we get—we try and help you to get the approval,” said Soto. “If you’re coming in just with that {a generic self defense good cause}, we’ll try to see if there is something else that may place you at greater risk. You just have to show proof that you are at greater risk than the general public.”

Soto expressed her opinion that if Sandra Hutchins is elected, the current policy probably would not change. This policy was put in place in January, 2009.

The other two candidates—Craig Hunter and Bill Hunt—believe generic self defense should be grounds for issuing the permits and do not seem to be looking for any proof that the applicant is at greater risk than the general public. We asked Craig Hunter, who is the Deputy Police Chief for the City of Anaheim, if he thinks a generic self defense reason is good enough to issue a CCW. He told us “Philosophically yes, but legally, that’s not the state of the law right now.”

Since he does not support the current law, he seems to be much less zealous in requiring proof of greater than normal risk. He said “Just write something on the forms so that I can help support you.” He continued “What I’m saying is, say something else—say anything you want to say, but don’t say those two words {self protection} and, basically that’s enough because when the Department of Justice comes down and audits, I have something to point to.”

Craig Hunter goes one step beyond the proof of risk issue. He told us “Forty other sheriffs in California have managed to have a less restrictive policy than Sheriff Hutchins—all following the same California law.” So if Hunter is elected, voters will be asking for more CCW permits and less restrictions on the permits which are issued.

“California's CCW permit law, Penal Code 12050, is filled with pitfalls. It says an applicant must show "good cause" that he needs a concealed weapon, but "good cause" is not explained in the text of the law. The task of defining "good cause" falls to local authorities, who adopt policies requiring an applicant to show proof of threats, or proof that the applicant works in a dangerous job,” said attorney Peters. “The applicant must possess "good moral character" which is again unexplained. Some departments require letters of reference from 3 people, others have no policy to verify the moral character of the applicant. The result is a severely disjointed landscape of laws and an inconsistent system of CCW permits being issued.”

With regard to differentiating his position from that of Bill Hunt, Hunter said “I don’t think that Bill Hunt and I are really very different. But from a practical standpoint, I don’t know why you want to be a lightening rod and shove it in the face of the Department of Justice and say come and get me. If you just let people use the two words that they {Department of Justice} have already said are not enough, you’re just asking for trouble, so I just think it’s a smarter way to go.”

Bill Hunt pushed the CCW issue to the front burner yesterday by issuing a press release with his position. The most relevant section from Hunt’s release is as follows:
“Hunt stated that, in addition to adding ‘self defense’ as a legitimate cause for the issuance of a CCW permit, Orange County residents will be eligible for a CCW if they pass a background check showing a history free of domestic violence, misdemeanors and felonies, complete an Orange County Sheriff's Department-approved CCW training class and pass a firearms safety and usage test. Hunt's policy will contain clear criteria for qualification and any Orange County resident who qualifies on all parts of the application process will be issued a CCW permit.”

The bottom line appears to be a vote For Sandra Hutchins is a vote for maintaining the current less permissive CCW permit policy, with its inherent subjectivity; a vote for Craig Hunter seems to be a vote for more widespread issuance of CCW permits, but in perhaps a less confrontational manner; and a vote for Bill Hunt, is a vote for more CCW permits, a less subjective and clearly articulated policy, and a more or less direct challenge to current laws.

“In all this confusion, one thing is clear: California's gun regulations are due for an overhaul. When California's may-issue law was passed, there was no recognized federal right to keep and bear arms. Last year, that changed with the U.S. Supreme Court's Heller decision, a landmark case throwing out a broad ban on guns in the District of Columbia. In Heller, the Court ruled that the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution contained in it "the individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation,” said Peters.

“California is particularly susceptible to a costly and lengthy legal challenge to its gun regulations. In fact several federal cases challenging our CCW law have already survived the first round of motions and are headed to hearings. The Supreme Court, in deciding Heller, may have signaled the ultimate demise of the may-issue law, but until it takes its last breath, local sheriffs remain empowered to set far-reaching policies, doling out Constitutionally-guaranteed rights to those who meet their criteria, subjective as it may be.”

Attorney Fred S. Peters can be reached by email at: attorneyfredpeters@gmail.com

One last observation: In researching this article we did not attempt to interview Bill Hunt because his position was just spelled out in the press released which is referenced above. We made several attempts to interview a spokesperson from Sandra Hutchins campaign and they did not return our calls. We did interview Craig Hunter because when we called the number on his campaign web site, to our great surprise, he answered the phone himself.