El Dorado County Sheriff Candidates CCW Forum

[akulahawk]

It has come to my attention that the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors will be holding a hearing for the purpose of possibly passing a Resolution supporting the issuance of CCW's by the Sheriff of El Dorado County, whomever that is and will be.

Here's a link to a draft resolution: http://www.eldoradorodandgun.com/pdf...025%202009.pdf

The hearing will be at 9am on August 25th, 2009.

[AuburnHunter]

Originally Posted by akulahawk

It has come to my attention that the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors will be holding a hearing for the purpose of possibly passing a Resolution supporting the issuance of CCW's by the Sheriff of El Dorado County, whomever that is and will be.

Here's a link to a draft resolution: http://www.eldoradorodandgun.com/pdf...025%202009.pdf

The hearing will be at 9am on August 25th, 2009.

Good find! I hope it passes, not that it is binding or anything though.

[AuburnHunter]

El Dorado sheriff's race caught up in concealed weapons debate - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee

[ptbarnacle]

Im planning on driving up there and attending the meeting. If all goes well at work in the morning, I'll report back.

[ptbarnacle]

Passed Amended Resolution 5-0 but the BOS will take it up again at next meeting. Defining Good Cause will be a topic. None opposed the theory of Self-defense for good cause, only the language of the resolution.

They were shocked how many people came out on it and that there was a CCW forum scheduled this Thurs 6pm at Fairgrounds.

Knight- Dist I
Thought it was sloppy and needed to be re-written

Nutting- Dist II
Proposed Resolution
Kept quiet till end
Defended the "Rush" to get a vote as this has been simmering for quite a while and there is never a good time.

Sweeney- Dist III
Authored a similar resolution in the 80's
Made all the changes to the paraphrased 2A, & Constitution
Professes to be well read on Constitutional Law

Briggs, Chairman- Dist IV
Supports a resolution because Sheriff has gone to furthest extreme
Didn't add much to discussion on vote, only proceedural

Santiago-Dist V
Thought 2A doesn't guarantee Self Defense, or at least is subjective
Does not want to go to Shall Issue
Took a 4 point buck with 30-06 when she was 4 months pregnant
But is toughest vote on board for CCW
Voted "Yes, but reluctantly". Bad language but a tool to instruct the Sheriff.


The Sheriff candidates who I recognized at meeting:
Larry Hennick- Attended and spoke
Robert “Bob” Luca- Attended
John D’Agostini- Under Sheriff running mate attended and spoke


Did not notice in attendance: (may have missed them)

Ernest “Ernie” Hillman
George Nielson
Stan Perez
Craig Therkildsen

Lots of good speakers. Many older residents who recently lost their CCW.

[Straight Shot]

Yes, history was made August 25 and 27! Both rooms were packed with Pro-2A people and they could not ignore us. Together we made a difference!

I wrote up an incredibly long (13 pp in WORD) review of both the BOS Hearing and the Candidates Forum. It is too long to repeat here. If you would like to see it, contact me via e-mail and I will send it to you.

Others have provided a good overview and caught a few I missed, and missed a few I caught... I have a DVD on order of the meeting waiting for me at the BOS. There will be a video of the Forum available soon at: El Dorado County Republican Party - El Dorado County, California It will be interesting to see "what really happened" at both events.

The good news is that we elevated the issue to local, state and national status (as it made all three venues via the NRA Daily Update on Aug 25 and 31, see my “media post” at http://www.calccw.com/Forums/announc...-page-nra.html ) and sent a clear message to current and future Sheriffs!

BTW: The second speaker was not John D'Agostini’s “running mate.” He is a local Political Consultant who is working on John’s campaign and a long time 2A advocate. I was third and all three of us had a hand in getting Supervisor Nutting to sponsor the resolution and contributed to the wording. “Charny” is the correct spelling of the gun club President’s name.

The BOS was not shocked. They knew we were coming!! I warned them June 30 I would send it out to over 800 people.

And: Supervisor Briggs supported us wholeheartedly and really stole the show with the closing remark after the vote and before the call for a 15 minute recess: "It might be his Department, but it’s our County!"

So many contributed and most are listed in my write up. The real heroes are those who wrote, called and faxed the BOS and spoke at the hearing (over ½ were my students). Thanks to the OC people for a template to build on. Words were changed to be applicable to the situation here and encourage a “Shall Issue policy” by the Sheriff.

The "Shall Issue" statement was derailed by Supervisor Knight and the BOS Lawyer who pointed out that CA is a "May Issue" state and the proposed wording was inconsistent with statue (So what? The Resolution is advisory and not binding on the Sheriff!). Despite each BOS member saying they supported such a concept, the words "Personal Self Defense is Good Cause" did not make it into the final Resolution. I do hope they revisit it, but don’t recall it was suggested to do so during or after the hearing (need to watch the DVD). I have suggested it to two BOS members I have spoken with since, but my sources indicate there is no immediate movement in that direction. They return September 15. Watch their agenda site every Thursday for what's on Tuesday: Meetings Calendar

The El Dorado County BOS has a long history of supporting the 2nd Amendment and our basic rights. I moved here in May 1989 just after the BOS adopted a Resolution (presumably what Sweeney spoke of as he was a member then) affirming our 2A rights and opposing the Roberti-Roos “Assault Weapon” Ban. I thought, "Did I move to the right place or what!" It energized me to join the NRA and become active. I joined the local gun club, became an RSO, became the 4-H Shooting Sports Leader/Trainer and co-found the local Friends of NRA group. With that event in mind, I wrote and approached the BOS in January 2000 with the first ever in the US, “Friends of NRA Day” Proclamation to support our dinner along with a guest OP-ED in the local paper. It passed 5-0 and stirred up some opposition, but the BOS “proclaims the same” every year to this day. In December 2001 they voted 5-0 to “Proclaim” December 15 each year as "Bill of Rights Day" to celebrate the adoption of that historic document in 1791. I wrote and promoted that proclamation after reading about the idea online. I provided a color copy of the Bill of Rights and it has been displayed at the front counter of their office ever since. This is truly an inspirational place to live! "Just outside the razor wire of Sacramento in a piece of Free America" as described by the Gun Owners of California lobbyist who showed for the BOS hearing. And yes, that was me handing out the signs!

The Sheriff Candidates Forum was beyond incredible; 615 in Standing Room Only! But indeed, as has been suggested, the questions were a bit easy. They fell over one another to convince us they were the best thing going for us CCW types... Exactly as claimed by the current Sheriff in 2002... (Who attends the Friends of NRA dinners, but usually leaves right after the food and introductions. He also joined the NRA as an Annual member at the same time he filed for papers in 2001.) Caution should be our guide.

The CalCCW members’ observations of “slickness” and “down home” were right on. Perez and Luca ascended into management and clearly liked it there (Luca did caution us to show some restraint, as Sacramento likes to get revenge – Gene Bird of Isleton PD and the law passed to stop his bold program immediately came to mind!). Larry Hennick and John D’Agostini are grass roots, definitely CCW friendly and want to serve at the community level. Ernie Hillman is personable, 2A savvy and knowledgeable of the Department. Therkildsen is endorsed by the current Sheriff and would continue with the same staff = same policies that is part of the CCW problem now (he was the only one to endorse the “3 Letters” policy!). Chief Nielson is a good guy, supported by those I know on his Department, not a politician (was nervous and read prepared answers) and said he would review and sign every License. We sure could be a lot worse off!

To see where the real differences are, I am working on a very specific set of questions to be submitted to them individually and responded to in writing on "Just What are you going to do, How and When?" Including: “NRA membership? How long and what level?” “Where have you been active?” And "How will you promote AB 357 and other pro self defense bills in Uniform once elected?" I spoke in favor of AB 357 at the Assembly Public Safety Committee hearing this spring. There was an ANTI AB 357 Sheriff from Stanislaus Co. there in uniform, but NO Pro-2A Sheriff's. It went down in flames on a party line vote (surprise!?) but a Pro 2A Sheriff or two in uniform could have made a difference. "Placerville is 45 min from the Capitol; will you go there in uniform to support our rights? If so, how?" All these are questions that must be answered.

Again, my summary of both events includes more questions. Any good ones you can think of are encouraged.

Together, we ARE making a difference!

Remain vigilant

[elknt]

This is a little late but the CCW forum did not allow gunowners in the audience to ask specific follow up questions to different candidates. There is a lot more information that gunowners (and especially CCW supporters) need to look at for these candidates but here's a little more information.

Nielsen has been a Police Chief for 5+ years and has the legal authority to issue CCWs. To date, he has not issued 1 single CCW license and has sent all applicants to the Sheriff's Dept. This is not a pro-CCW candidate.

Therkildsen works at the Sheriff's Department and has previously told citizen(s) there is no way he will ever issue a CCW permit because he doesn't feel they have the right and because they are a liability to any Sheriff's Department. This candidate is also planning on promoting the Sheriff's Captain who denies most CCWs as his Undersheriff if he is elected. He is definitely not pro-CCW.

Perez "retired" as a CHP Chief and said he will "define" what just cause for a CCW is for you but somehow failed to state just what that was at the forum. Hopefully you can meet that arbitrary criteria but probably not. He also lists the CHP offices as his headquarters which obviously is not true. He is also not pro-CCW.

Luca worked for the Attorney General's Office and said we need to be careful about issuing too many CCWs or there could be a backlash by the legislature. This caused the crowd to actually boo him at the CCW forum. Many gunowners attending the CCW forum figured out that he was not pro-CCW.

The other 3 candidates (Dagostini, Hennick and Hillman) are very pro-gun. Dagostini and Hennick hunt, are NRA members, like to shoot their OWN guns and are probably the 2 strongest CCW/2A supporters in this race. If you live in El Dorado County, you need to talk with these candidates and support a pro-CCW/2A candidate. If you live outside of EDC, we could use your support of pro-CCW/2A candidates.