Sheriff Lee Baca and the Gun-Gift Connection
” The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department is known in gun-rights circles for being stingy with concealed-weapons permits. Sheriff Lee Baca has total discretion over who is allowed to get a permit, and he hasn’t given out many.
As of May 2012, only 341 people had been granted them, according to sheriff’s records. Compare that with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, which had 1,754 permit holders in 2011, despite a population of just 2 million people to L.A.’s 10 million. The Kern County Sheriff granted even more, with 3,564 permit holders in a population of 800,000 people.
In L.A. County, records show, most of the permits go to judges and reserve deputies. But there is another group that seems to have better luck than most in obtaining permits: friends of Lee Baca. Those who’ve given the sheriff gifts or donated to his campaign are disproportionately represented on the roster of permit holders.
Michel had not looked in depth at L.A. County’s practices, but the Weekly did. Last year, the Weekly filed a public records request for all 341 active concealed-weapons permits granted by the Sheriff’s Department — as well as a list of the 123 people who applied for concealed weapons over an 18-month period but were denied. (You can see the complete list of permit holders we obtained from the Sheriff’s Department here.)
Those lists contain many of the same names that appear on Baca’s gift reports and contribution records.
In fact, more than two dozen people who have given gifts or campaign contributions to the sheriff also have gun permits. More than one out of every 10 permits issued to civilians went to people on Baca’s gift list. The permit holders include Michael R. Yamaki, an attorney and reserve deputy who is among Baca’s best friends, as well as several people who attended Baca’s 1999 wedding.”
HT/Instapundit
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Campaign Contribution in a Quid Pro Quo situation where CCW permits “magically” were approved equates to: Official Misconduct; Bribery; Violating Public Trust; Conspiracy, and probably a few more felonies I cannot think of at the moment. There are Civil Rights violations as a person’s Right to Keep and Bear Arms are deprived. No mention of background checks, pistol, death ray, brass knuckles, permits, waiting periods, minimum age, insurance (Maybe it’s covered by ObamaCare for personal injury? Maybe all firearms and resulting injuries/damages are covered because I believe that it is in fact within the Bill the US Senate pushed and nobody read in their haste to pass an Agendaized Program) and so forth.
The sheriff probably does want to hold down crime and violence as he must answer to the People when something happens but, since when have criminals ever obeyed restrictive laws of any sort? By delaying applications or denying applications, basically the sheriff is complicit in the harm caused against citizens when unlawful use of deadly physical force was applied against the citizen and they were unarmed, but wanted to be armed as their Rights were denied. It’s no different than a False Arrest which infringes upon a person’s Right to Freedom. Freedom, has many facets, because it is in fact, a jewel of Liberty.
You touched on many great points as usual , but I think it boils down to ego and power trips even more than liability or accountability . Those in power typically live to laud that power over those who are “powerless”.
I don’t know the sheriff. Never heard of anything like people having to widen the garage door so he could get his head into the building, so it might or might not, be ego or power tripping.
A lot of times it will be, political ambition of going higher and higher, and that ascent requires walking on the dead bodies of many, figuratively and literally. That is where the problem begins. They develop mentors or handlers. Things become politically motivated instead of caring for others. Many years ago a politician drove a car off of a bridge and left the passenger in the car. If I recall, the police were notified eight hours later (!). It was treated as “that’s the way it goes…”
When they become political, that’s how insiders get away with things like murder, rape, drug trafficking, etc.; Almost like the Vincent Foster investigation went nowhere. Nobody had any regard for their badge and just “went with the flow”. There are a few things like that.