Three to five members of a gun-rights group plan to carry unloaded weapons in holsters while picking up trash in western Hermosa, to educate the public on the legal right to bear arms in plain site in California.
“I imagine participants will carry mostly semi-automatic handguns, however some may carry revolvers,” said Harley Green, who launched the website South Bay Open Carry.
“I do not dictate which types of firearms participants can carry, if it is legal to carry in California then it is welcomed,” he said. “California law requires the firearms to be visibly displayed, so they will probably be carried in belt holsters so that nothing is obstructing the view of the firearm.”
Under state law, people may carry ammunition along with the unloaded guns as well.
Green, 24, met with police to inform them about the event, planned for about mid-July. The trash pickup would take place along Eighth Street from Valley Drive to the Strand or Hermosa Avenue, then head north to a coffee house to be determined.
Police Chief Greg Savelli said the group initially planned to hold the event some time before the busy Fourth of July weekend, but agreed to postpone it at the department’s request.
The open carrying of firearms “is new to our area, but the law has been in existence for a while,” Savelli said. “No one has practiced it like this group is intending to. It will be unusual for people to see, and some people probably will call the police.”
Savelli said the Police Department has no position on open-carry issues, but he wants to prevent any possible confrontations as people exercise their gun rights. He said the open carry advocates also do not want to be seen as a threat to the public.
Savelli supplied the advocates with a map showing areas where they may not legally carry their weapons, including government buildings and 1,000 feet from a public or private school with students in the kindergarten-through-12th grade range.
“The meeting with Chief Savelli was a very positive experience,” Green said. “I look forward to working with the Hermosa Beach Police Department more in the future.”
Green, a three-year South Bay resident, said he works as a computer engineer specializing in networking and computer security for a local defense contractor, and he co-owns a “customizable children’s books company” called See It’s Me Books with his wife Adrienne Green.
The South Bay Open Carry website states that concealed weapons permits are difficult to secure, but California law allows the carrying of unloaded, non-concealed weapons, and ammunition.
But the legal ground for gun rights might be shifting. In California the Assembly has voted to overturn the open carry law, and passed the legislation along to the Senate, and nationally the U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing a case that could, according to some advocates, limit states’ powers to restrict the right to bear arms.
Green believes the high court could render unconstitutional almost all California gun control laws, including the law requiring openly carried firearms to be unloaded.
“South Bay Open Carry is a movement in the South Bay of Los Angeles to assert our rights to bear arms through community driven activities. We are not out to protest and stage rallies, rather we want to facilitate change through positive community interactions. You may see us out picking up trash along the beach or greenbelt, serving food at shelters and churches, handing out water on hot summer days,” states the website.
“To be clear for those wishing to join us at events, we do put the safety and legality of our events as our top priorities,” the posting states.
South Bay Open Carry plans to ask participants to submit to a “weapons check” to verify guns are unloaded, and plans to give advance notification to police, media and local government. The group also plans to shoot video of its events.
Savelli said state law allows police to inspect openly carried weapons as well, to ensure they are unloaded.
Noting the difficulty of securing a concealed weapon permit, a posting on the website endorses openly carrying weapons as “the only legal means” of self-defense, and as a “civil protest of unconstitutional firearms laws and [concealed weapon] policies.”
Open carry also serves as “a form of firearms community diplomacy, to dispel the myth that only cops and criminals carry guns, and to help reintroduce the general public and the law enforcement community to the reality that ordinary peaceful law-abiding citizens possess, use, and carry firearms,” the website states.
The website states that an unloaded gun is of “not much” use for self-defense.
“However, with a little practice, one can easily load a handgun in under two seconds,” it adds. ER
Your article has one serious inaccuracy. The reporter states “…according to some advocates, limit states’ powers to restrict the right to bear arms.”
The Case is McDonald v City of Chicago and the US Supreme Court Decision will be released on Tuesday. Everyone, including this Nation’s must militant supporters of gun control (e.g., Mayor Daley of Chicago) believes that the decision will limit states’ powers to restrict the right to bear arms.”
Ok, outside of picking up trash, what’s the point? I think most people
realize you can purchase and carry guns. People that want them, already
have them. I wonder if a bunch of karate black belts are going to roam the streets of Hermosa
doing a bunch if air kicks and punches while picking up trash in between? Just to show they could
use lethal force if they wanted to. It all sounds ridiculous to me. Just pick up the trash, leave the weapons and karate chops at home.
The Chief has yet to provide us with a map.
And a lot of people are NOT aware that it is legal to openly carry a firearm in California.
You can get the facts at our website: http://www.SouthBayOpenCarry.org
How stupid! Why should anyone provide these clowns with maps of places that they cannot openly carry guns. They seem to know the law. They need to buy a map and look in a phone book for banned locations. I say arrest them if they are too stupid to follow the law on their own.
Gene Dreher and what other morons?