A recent thread in GD about NYPD's gun permit listing got me to thinking, and I came to the conclusion that my conscience would prevent me from working the job in such a place. I guess this would include Kalifornia as a place I could not work, along with most of the east coast cities.

The notion of getting a permit from the gubm't to carry a TOOL is ridiculous, IMO, and [insert favorite 2nd Amendment argument here].

How do you do it?

Frankly, CA 'goofy' gun laws haven't been an issue.  The only gun issues I've dealt with have either been 'legitimate' (ie brandishing, shooting at people/buildings, felon in possession) or an out of state resident that needed clarification on how to 'properly' transport a firearm in a vehicle.  I haven't had any dealings with 'assault weapons' or high capacity magazines.

Brian

fear of law enforcment is what keeps em inline ,  cept if you are a illegal Mexican

Quoted: fear of law enforcment is what keeps em inline ,  cept if you are a illegal Mexican

As an IL resident and a regular joe-citizen, I don't fear law enforcement one damn bit. I haven't done a damn thing wrong. What I do fear, is getting caught trying to subvert the over-restricitve gun laws in my state and ending up with a felony charge UUW, or other such that would prevent me from obtaining a CCW once I finaly reach a free state.

Having only lived in MA and CT all my life, we haven't tasted all the freedoms that are out there. What you don't know doesn't effect you as much as someone who has lived in both "freedom" and a "totalitarian regime"!

I served as a PT PO for 18 years in MA and never busted anyone's balls for minor infractions as long as they were decent folks and acted as such. That is why I ALWAYS tell people to be polite to LE, it goes a long way in the officer using discretion! In my limited exposure, in a upper middle class community, I never ran into any gun issues (other than 1 domestic where a gun was alleged to have been involved in a street fight "somewhere" prior to our involvement, but nobody ever found the gun, and the guy was a local scumbag who wouldn't get any "discretion" if we had found it and linked him to it).

I was a gun person before I became LE, so I had my permits long before considering joining the PD (which was my Chief's idea anyway). I only knew one PO on the department that carried off-duty and only 2 or 3 were really proficient with handguns and enjoyed shooting. It is relatively uncommon in MA to find LEOs that are "gun people" (statistically speaking, I belong to a gun club of 2700 members and we probably have ~300 LEOs as members who are "gun people" and they actually practice and use the place personally).

So the vast majority of LE around here really don't care for guns and would probably prefer carrying a Mont Blanc pen to their sidearm if given a choice. I left the PD in 1996 after 18 years, before all the domestic violence laws hit the books. I would indeed feel bad having to confiscate people's collections of guns because they yelled at their spouse! I'm glad to be gone from that arena. I've been a Constable now for 6+ years, although we are LE, we don't deal with regular LE duties.

Licensing for possession of firearms in MA has been around since ~1910ish I am told, so everyone is sorta used to it. LE do NOT need permits to carry duty weapons on or off duty in MA (even visiting LE . . . and this has been in the law for at least 30 years here). It is advised that all LE get personal permits and it is used as a "vetting process" by many agencies in hiring practices (as it means the person has passed a number of background checks prior to applying).

So, I guess we have gotten used to having no "rights" in MA over the past almost 100 years. Something about a pot of water, frog, and turning up the heat gradually!

I would imagine like any other LEO in the country, unless the law says "shall arrest", they can exercise discretion.

Quoted: A recent thread in GD about NYPD's gun permit listing got me to thinking, and I came to the conclusion that my conscience would prevent me from working the job in such a place. I guess this would include Kalifornia as a place I could not work, along with most of the east coast cities. The notion of getting a permit from the gubm't to carry a TOOL is ridiculous, IMO, and [insert favorite 2nd Amendment argument here]. How do you do it?