AB144 author Anthony Portantino certainly doesn’t lack for passion as he argues to infringe upon the rights of all law-abiding Californians. What he does lack is a logical, coherent argument.
Oakland Gun-rights Examiner Yih-Chau Chang has posted this excellent coverage of the AB144 debate in the Assembly last week. The reason for the incoherence of Portantino’s argument becomes quite obvious when he talks about “activists” carrying in public…
In his closing statements, Portantino then admits, “Some people use the Open Carry as a political statement.” Apparently, the Assemblymember does not see the irony of his own argument. If he will not confess to infringing on every law-abiding Californian’s 2nd Amendment Rights by banning Open Carry with AB 144, then he surely must understand that he just acknowledged publicly, in a legislative setting, that he has, at the very least, actively violated every law-abiding Calfornian’s First Amendment Rights to free speech and also to peaceably assemble through the bill. This glaring contradiction appears to be beyond the scope of his understanding. If Portantino does understand this basic inconsistency, then fundamental civil rights such as the First and Second Amendment must not matter much to him nor his anti-gun peers.
This isn’t about protecting public safety; it’s about preventing political discourse. And Portantino isn’t alone in his desire to tell Californians to shut up. Democrat Majority Leader Charles Calderon told Californians that “there is no Constitutional right, not one, that cannot be regulated if there is an overriding purpose. Doesn’t matter what that Constitutional right is. If there’s an overriding governmental purpose, then that right can be impacted and can be regulated.” This is absolutely chilling.
These are words that not only should never pass the lips of an American politician, no American elected official should even think them. Anyone elected to serve the People should find such words offensive. Instead, the enemies of the law-abiding in this State use them as a political argument.
But don’t believe me, listen for yourself…
