Have YOU been shafted applying for CCW?
COMPLAIN TO THE JUDGE!!!

Jim March - 7/30/2002 - jmarch@prodigy.net

(This is an update to the California AG/DOJ PRAR lawsuit, click here for info.)

I've been running this website since April of '99 or so, and I can't count the number of people who've written me with their own personal horror stories resulting from their attempts to obtain a simple CCW permit.

People have been harassed, threatened, intimidated, laughed at, discriminated against, hell, I could go on all day.

In the current lawsuit in progress against AG Lockyer and company, a major issue will be "just how bad is the system, that it should be investigated by the public?".  The California Supreme Court first opened these records in 1986 because they suspected that there were abuses of the system being perpetrated by law enforcement.

But they didn't have a "smoking gun" - proof of abuse.

The Judge in my case in Sacramento will be given a good dose of such from me, but even as thoroughly documented as I can provide, "one guy griping" only goes so far.

Another issue will be "can I get the Judge to issue subpoenas for me, dragging PD Chiefs and Sheriffs into on-the-record depositions that they'll fight kicking and screaming?".

That's where you, dear readers, come in.

Have you been shafted, either when applying for CCW or trying to obtain CCW records via Public Records Act Request?  Good.  COMPLAIN.  Enough complaints, enough obvious abuse, and we not only win, we get to question corrupt Sheriffs and Chiefs "on the record" and in some cases, bring the popcorn 'cuz that's gonna be one HELL of a show <grin>.

You make a formal complaint with a "declaration", which you download, either fill out on-screen or hand-write, and mail it to me.  I'll present a massive stack (please?) to the Judge.

Mail them to:

Jim March
11 Emerson Court
Pittsburg, CA 94565

(Ya, that's my real address.  Heck with it - the cops know it, and any grabbers want to come over and harass, hell, bring it on, I'm past caring.)

Include your EMail address on a slip of paper in with the completed declaration.

Needs:
- click here for free reader (needed for many items)

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Confidentiality:

Declarations in a court case ARE public record.

But I'm not going to publish them online or elsewhere, and there'd be absolutely NO reason for any grabber opposition to do so.

Feel free to drop me EMail about this, asking questions of any sort: jmarch@prodigy.net

A declaration is where you “tell your story”.  Formality isn’t what’s critical – what matters is that you talk to the court about things you’ve ACTUALLY SEEN, either on the part of some government agent, in a conversation you heard, or in the form of a document (attached wherever possible).  In the case of attached documents, always state where you obtained them in the body of the declaration.

Talk about any cases of:

* Denial of the ability to apply for CCW;
* Refusal of CCW data under the Public Records Act;
* Situations where law enforcement asked for a bribe of ANY sort, either case or services to a political campaign or ???;
* Mockery or other unprofessional behavior;
* “Retaliation” for seeking CCW – I know of one poor guy who had to explain to his HR department at the company he worked for (in a two hour conversation) why he had applied for CCW – they had been “warned” by his police department;
* ANY RACIAL COMMENTS by law enforcement regarding permit applicants – also gender/religious/sexual-preference-based comments;
* Any case of a Sheriff telling you he won’t issue because you live in a particular town within his county;
* Any other abuse!!!

Past that, don’t spend a lot of time on how this made you feel.  The fact that you’ve written this and submitted it to a court speaks volumes.  A short statement is OK but don’t overdo it and DO NOT “preach”.  A declaration is a way for you to either state facts, or attest to the genuineness of a particular document or set of documents.  If it’s about documents, the evidence rules are like this: if you just hand something incriminating to the Judge, it isn’t “evidence” until somebody testifies just where the hell it came from.  So a statement like “on such-and-such day I walked into the Smalldumbtown PD and Officer Bigothead handed me the document attached, and explained that it was to make sure no "mud people" (his words) scored CCW” is fine, it testifies both as to the origin of a document and a statement by law enforcement.  This is similar to the "documented evidence chain" cops have to deal with in criminal court.

In some cases, there’s no document involved, just what you were told and/or saw; in other cases all you’re saying is “I obtained this document from so-and-so on or about this date, see attached”.

For GOD’S SAKE don’t lie.  I will be taking declarations only from people with a known or verifiable pro-RKBA track record of some sort.  All it would take would be one piece of verifiable BS to invalidate a massive stack of declarations and our credibility in general.

For this reason, I want the EMail address of the person sending it in.  I'll try and ID you as a "previously active gunnie" from that.  If I can't, I'll EMail you and ask about who you know in the movement, what forums/lists you post to, etc...basically, we'll work out your bona-fides.  I doubt it'll be much of an issue for most readers of my site :).

Finally, if you want to add in a cash donation to the cause with the declaration, cool, God knows I could use it - but that is NOT required, and if all you can do is a declaration, IT WILL HELP.

Let's roll!

Jim