Altadena Hiker

In Support of Portantino's Open Carry Rifle Ban

And why I wish everyone would keep their triggers at home

What do I find scary in Altadena?  Fast traffic on dark roads, power lines in a windstorm, the cello-packed seafood at Ralph’s.  Hot dry days when the mountains are full of brown and brittle brush -- yes, fire scares me. But I’m not afraid of people; neighbors or strangers with whom I share the streets, parks, shops, gas stations.  Whatever personal safety questions cross my mind, owning a gun, much less carrying a gun, doesn’t offer much of an answer. I suppose I could shoot the Ralph’s salmon, but for heaven’s sakes, it’s been dead far too long already. Anthony Portantino has introduced a bill to ban the open-carry of rifles in public. This seems like such a reasonable bill, such a no-brainer, I’ve been nonplussed by the sturm and drang …

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New Open Carry Gun Ban Bill Introduced by Portantino

AB 1527 follows up on Portantino's successful legislation from last year banning the open carry of unloaded hand guns by extending the ban to unloaded shotguns and rifles.

A bill introduced by Anthony Portantino, D-La Cañada Flintridge, would ban rifles, shotguns and other long guns from being openly displayed in public, even while unloaded. Portantino wrote in a press release that the bill is inspired by guns right protest groups that openly carry long guns in public.  He noted that following the passage of AB 144, the bill he introduced last year barring the open carry of handguns, the groups began to show up instead with automatic rifles and shotguns at rallies. “Last year, the state made it clear that this type of behavior had no place on Main Street, California,” Portantino wrote. “Unfortunately, the Open Carry community has decided to once again force our hand by escalating their unnecessary activities…

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