Hermosa Beach Police Chief Greg Savelli said people may not legally carry guns onto the beach, after gun rights advocates raised the possibility of carrying unloaded weapons in holsters onto the sand.
The group South Bay Open Carry plans a trash pickup event in which people will carry unloaded weapons, along with ammunition, on the streets in western Hermosa. The event on Saturday, July 10, is designed to publicize the legal right to bear arms in plain sight in California.
In a press release on Monday, Harley Green, 24, founder of the South Bay Open Carry website, said there was “confusion” over the legal right to carry a gun on the beach in Hermosa.
Savelli pointed out that unlike most cities, Hermosa owns its beach, and has long considered the sand to be among its open space and parkland resources, along with conventional parks and the city greenbelt. And he pointed to the municipal code, which bans guns from the parks.
“We’re saying no, you can’t have any weapons on the beach,” Savelli said.
The Hermosa Beach Community Resources Department has long listed the beach on the city’s official roster of parks.
In addition, state law forbids people from carrying visible firearms in government buildings and 1,000 feet from a public or private school with students in the kindergarten-through-12th grade range.
In the press release, Green said South Bay Open Carry was consulting with the Police Department on the beach question, and whether the event can proceed from Eighth Street and Valley Drive down to the beach, or must confine itself to The Strand.
“There is some confusion as to whether it is legal to openly carry an unloaded firearm on the beach itself, and so this first event will begin with a brief comment to the press at the corner of Eighth Street and Valley,” and then proceed along Eighth Street to The Strand, then north toward the Pier Plaza, Green said.
“If the confusion regarding the beach itself is resolved, and the police agree that it is legal to openly carry an unloaded firearm onto the beach, then the cleanup will proceed past The Strand onto the beach. If not, the route will remain on The Strand toward Pier Plaza,” Green said.
Green initially estimated that three to five people would take part in the trash pickup. On Monday he revised the estimate to 10 to 15 people.
Green has said most of the participants will probably carry semi-automatic handguns at their sides, and some might carry revolvers.
“This is the first known event of its type to be held outside of the San Francisco Bay area since the open carry movement began there less than two years ago,” Green said.
A beach cleanup event was held on federal land in the San Francisco area, he said.
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. ER
Fortunately, a violation appears to be merely an infraction punishable by a $100 fine.
12.28.190 — Violation — Infraction.
All violations of the provisions of this chapter shall be infractions. (Prior code § 22-19 (part))
12.28.030 — Park regulations generally.
Within the limits of any public park or playground, no person shall:
2. Carry or discharge any firearms, firecrackers, rockets, torpedoes or any other fireworks, or air gun or slingshot;
1.04. 030 Infractions.
Penalties. Any person violating any provision or failing to comply with any mandatory requirement of this Code expressly stated by this Code to be an infraction shall be guilty of an infraction. Except as otherwise provided in this Code, any person convicted of an infraction shall be punishable by:
A fine not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100.00) for a first violation;
A fine not exceeding two hundred dollars ($200.00) for a second violation of the same provision of the Code within one year;
A fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500.00) for each additional violation of the same provision of the Code within one year.
No counsel for infractions at public expense.An infraction is not punishable by imprisonment. A person charged with an infraction shall not be entitled to have the public defender or other counsel appointed at public expense to represent him or her unless he or she is arrested and not released on his or her written promise to appear, on his or her own recognizance, or on a deposit of bail.
I received an email from the Torrance Police Department:
“Hello Mr. Nichols…
I hear Friday’s photo op was very successful for you and quite uneventful for us…which is a good thing. It truly pays off to work together with mutual respect. We accomplished what we set out to do…have a win-win situation!
Thanks again for working with the Torrance Police Department. Take care.”
As you can see, the difference in attitude between the Hermosa Beach, Torrance PD and the Redondo Beach PD is night and day. The first two cities obey the law, Redondo Beach makes it up as it pleases.