OC GOP Central Committee Votes To "Oppose" Sheriff Hutchens On Her Restrictive CCW Po

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OC GOP Central Committee Votes To "Oppose" Sheriff Hutchens On Her Restrictive CCW Policy | Red County

OC GOP Central Committee Votes To "Oppose" Sheriff Hutchens On Her Restrictive CCW Policy
By Allan Bartlett | 04/21/09



The OC GOP Central Committee voted 41 to 14 last night in favor of a resolution that rebukes Sheriff Hutchens on her restrictive CCW policy. The original subcommittee language of "no confidence" was amended to read "we oppose her CCW policy". Although the debate got heated, it was handled with a sense of fairness and decorum. In the end, everyone got to have their say and a strong resolution was passed.

During the debate, there were numerous hurdles that the resolution had to go through to get to the final product. The first was an amendment by Anna Bryson that stripped out all language referencing Sheriff Hutchens. This amendment was tabled. The next hurdle was an amendment by Chairman Baugh to modify the resolution's enabling clause. His amendment struck out the "no confidence" language and replaced it with "oppose". A motion was made to table this amendment. It failed. Then the debate started with three speakers speaking on behalf of the resolution and three opposing it. Speaking for the resolution were Bruce Whitaker, Kristine Alonzo, and Craig Alexander. Speaking against it were Don Daucher, Norm Dickinson, and Jack Anderson. The resolution passed by 41 to 14 as amended. Some notable NO votes came from from Cong. John Campbell's alternate Lou Penrose, State Sen. Mimi Walter's alternate Kat Vermeil, and Cong Ken Calvert's alternate Ann Rommel.

Here's the final version of the resolution:

Whereas, the Republican Party of Orange County firmly supports the positions outlined in the California Republican Party platform which declares:

“The United States Constitution guarantees the right of its citizenry to keep and bear arms. One of the first acts of a totalitarian society is to disarm its people. California’s gun control laws only serve to disarm law abiding citizens, not criminals. We oppose any further gun control legislation and support the right of all California citizens to own and bear guns and ammunition for any lawful purpose. We call for statewide legislation to allow qualified law abiding citizens in California to carry concealed weapons. We support allowing citizens to use deadly force to protect lives and property. We also support including all of these rights in the California constitution.

Finally, we call for the elimination of waiting periods to purchase firearms and instead support complete implementation of instant background checks.”

And whereas, the Republican Party of Orange County supports and promotes principles of limited government, individual responsibility, and the defense of freedom with fair and equal treatment of law-abiding citizens; and

Whereas, the Sheriff of Orange County, a registered Republican, recently launched efforts and policies to retroactively review, revoke, expire and eliminate several hundred previously issued and valid carry concealed weapons permits or CCWs, adversely affecting permit holders.

Whereas, these revocations without cause, violate an agreed-upon contractual relationship for a defined period of permitted use between the Sheriff’s Department and CCW permit holders, resulting in a limiting of freedom and abuse of discretion by an officeholder.

Whereas, the Sheriff claims she is merely following “the law” yet Sheriffs in California are empowered with wide discretion regarding issuance of CCW permits, and Orange County recently ranked 43rd of 58 California counties in CCW permits issued per capita; and

Now, therefore be it resolved that the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Orange County opposes the CCW policy of the Sheriff and urges the Sheriff to revise her policy.

The Central Committee also urges the California legislature to adopt AB357 to make California a “shall issue” state as it relates to the citizens right to carry a concealed weapon.