Recently, a Los Angeles resident defended himself against would-be home invaders. What happened after the attempted home invasion? The state rescinded his concealed carry permit. How does this make sense?
“Are we at last brought to such humiliating and debasing degradation that we cannot be trusted with arms for our defense? – Patrick Henry
The Second Amendment is a first-class right. “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Our government fails to treat it as such; it infringes the right of the people to keep and bear arms. It treats our right to self-defense as a state-issued privilege.
The right to bear arms is recognized primarily as the way free citizens protect themselves against government tyranny. It is the safeguard of our liberties. More often in practice, it is the right of free citizens to protect themselves, their loved ones, and their property from evildoers. The Second Amendment is the right to self-defense.
We want to thank Marc Abear for this Contribution – Please direct yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
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In the Los Angeles, California incident, resident Vince Ricci exercised his Second Amendment rights. As he returned from a workout, he was confronted by two armed men outside his house. Fortunately for Ricci, he had a concealed carry weapon (CCW) permit and was carrying.
Ricci quickly turned the tables on the two attackers. He pulled his weapon and fired, sending the two fleeing. No one was hurt in the incident, but Ricci was incensed by the situation. He voiced some of his frustration by yelling at LA Police officers who came to investigate.
Robberies were a growing problem in the Ricci’s gated community. His home was broken into months prior. During that home invasion, his five-month-old child, wife, and nanny were in his house. His frustration over the LAPD’s obvious lack of effective action to address crime is understandable.
Fortunately for Ricci, the entire attack and firefight was filmed on his home security camera. The footage left no question he had responded appropriately. He was well within the bounds of the law in defending himself and his family.
If it had not been caught on camera, would Ricci have found himself in legal hot water with LA’s leftist District Attorney George Gascon? Today, proving our innocence is mandatory. How wrong is that?
Despite the video proof that Ricci properly used his Second Amendment rights, despite demonstrating the CCW permit he had spent months seeking to obtain was fully justified, Ricci was notified by the LAPD that his CCW permit had been “temporarily” rescinded.
Ricci believes the LAPD revoked his permit because he yelled at them when it took three days for officers to respond. Three days to initiate an investigation of the attempted assault and burglary. He accused them of sloppy policing for failing even to pick up shell casings at the scene.
The LA County Sheriff’s Department response was, “We recognize that this incident was extremely traumatic and startling for the Ricci family, and we hope the individuals responsible for this crime are arrested and held accountable… The CCW permit may be immediately reinstated as long as the permit holder has also followed all required CCW policies (i.e. proper notifications, use of properly documented weapon, etc.). The DOJ has been notified, and there are avenues for Mr. Ricci to re-apply for his permit. We have been in contact with the Ricci family and have been providing information to them about CCW protocols and guidelines in an effort to ensure their Second Amendment rights are protected.”
This is an example of California law enforcement viewing Ricci’s Second Amendment rights as a privilege, not a right. California makes it extremely difficult for residents to obtain CCW permits. Apparently, when a resident actually needs to use his permit in a clear and unequivocal example of justified self-defense, the state quickly and needlessly rescinds the permit and restarts the hoop-jumping process.
There may yet be some undisclosed information providing a justifiable rationale to rescind Ricci’s CCW permit, but nothing caught on his security camera, nor any other reported information justifies the state’s actions.
