The Second Amendment Foundation took an extraordinary step Monday by issuing a first-of-its-kind “travel advisory” to American gun owners, warning them to stay out of California.
“Right now,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb, “I wouldn’t suggest to any gun owner that they even travel through the state, much less to it as their final destination.”
The Golden State has been a tourist magnet for generations, with Disneyland, Hollywood, ocean beaches, Yosemite and thousands of other attractions. But over the past 25-40 years, Californians have been moving out, heading to Washington, Oregon, Arizona, southern Idaho, western Montana, Colorado, Arizona and elsewhere. Years ago in the Evergreen State, the influx of Californians moving to the Puget Sound area caused the natives to declare, “Don’t Californicate Washington.” Similar sentiments have been expressed by locals in many of the other states that have seen an influx of California refugees.
But Gottlieb’s advisory has nothing to do with the people, and everything to do with the state’s gun laws. California gun laws are among the strictest in the nation, and critics say they are getting worse.
“The California Legislature has been out of control for years when it comes to placing restrictions on the Second Amendment rights of honest citizens,” he said in a release to the press. “Lawmakers in Sacramento either ignored or have forgotten that in 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court incorporated the Second Amendment to the states via the 14th Amendment in SAF’s landmark case of McDonald v. City of Chicago. The Second Amendment’s protection of the right to keep and bear arms applies to state and local governments, but they seem rather oblivious to that fact in the halls of California’s Legislature.”
The announcement comes on a day when the state is making headlines for a curious voting case. According to Judicial Watch, 11 California counties allegedly have more registered voters than voting-age citizens.
The Blaze said Judicial Watch is threatening to sue if the state doesn’t comply with the National Voter Registration Act. Judicial Watch listed the offending counties as “Imperial (102%), Lassen (102%), Los Angeles (112%), Monterey (104%), San Diego (138%), San Francisco (114%), San Mateo (111%), Santa Cruz (109%), Solano (111%), Stanislaus (102%), and Yolo (110%).” The percentages are the number of registered voters in relation to the actual voting-age citizens.
Gottlieb noted that California is one of the states that does not honor concealed carry permits or licenses issued by other states. This reciprocity prohibition has not prevented criminals from going to California and committing crimes.
But it could make criminals of law-abiding citizens who bring firearms to the state thinking that their home state carry permit or license will be recognized same as a driver’s license.
“If you are licensed to carry in your home state,” Gottlieb warned, “that license is not recognized in California. It doesn’t matter how many background checks you’ve gone through or whether you took a gun safety course. Your license is no good in the Golden State, which suggests that your safety and the safety of your family are of no concern to state lawmakers or city administrators. You could be prosecuted for having a gun for personal protection, or you might get killed because you didn’t.
“By not going to California,” he said, “the life you save may be your own.”
