California CCW - concealed carry forum

Some quotes from Mr. Masse:

For the last several decades, Los Angeles County has been dominated by liberal politicians. Even when they were conservative politicians, the Sheriff's have tightly controlled the issuance of CCW's. I don't know the reason, just that it has been so. The practice of the current Sheriff has been to issue permits primarily to campaign contributors and Hollywood celebrities. He is particularly enamoured by the ranks of the rich and famous and spends most of his evenings in Hollywood and Beverly Hills.

I will not be issuing permits based on contributions to my campaign or based on a person's celebrity status. At this time, my position on CCW's is that they will be issued upon demonstrated and articulated need. As the next Sheriff of Los Angeles County, it is my intention to ensure that our county's permit policies are in compliance with existing California law. Upon taking office I will conduct a thorough review of the current policies and will make changes to those policies as appropriate.

Ken Masse

I am not prepared at this time to declare that LA County will be a "shall issue" county. That does not mean that this could not change in the future. I am just not willing to promise something that I will not be able to deliver on at a later date. I have always prided myself on being a man of my word and have made it a practice to follow through on my promises. I would ask you to keep in mind that this is a huge issue for LA County and that there are a lot of people who would vehemently oppose a candidate who was declaring that he would make Los Angeles a shall issue county as part of his campaign platform.

I spent my entire 35 year law enforcement career with the Sheriff's Department and have worked with literally thousands of LASD personnel, both sworn and professional staff. When the deputies' union, ALADS, recently voted to endorse a candidate for Sheriff, the incumbent received less than 10% of their votes. You may be interested to knowing that I was the deputies' choice to be their next Sheriff. They know me and what I stand for and they know that I will be the Sheriff who will ensure they have the tools needed to do their jobs. I can assure you that once you meet me you will be of the same opinion. I believe I am the type of Sheriff you will want to serve under.

Anyone who actually wants to WIN this election will have to make a statement like that. If he came out and said, "I'll be shall-issue", it would cost him the election. That's the reality of it. And CaliforniaCCW.org is all about reality, incremental gains and small victories. So vote for Ken Masse.

http://kenmasse.com/

I couldn't agree more. Baca needs to get the boot.

I don't live in LA county, but I donated to Ken Masse campaign and am talking with the people I know in LA county to get them to vote Ken Masse. Hope next time 'round in my county, there will be a chance for incrimental progress like this.

-'Chung

I had a long talk with Ken Masse today. He doesn't really want to be quoted too much on the Internet, but he completely satisfied me that this is the guy we should vote for. He did say that it will take a while to phase in some of the plans he has in mind (can't do everything on day one), but it sounds as if they are good plans, worth waiting for. My contribution to his funds is on its way.

Vote Ken Masse!

(Also posted to CalGuns.net)

Admin wrote:

Anyone who actually wants to WIN this election will have to make a statement like that. If he came out and said, "I'll be shall-issue", it would cost him the election.

It is true that if it would certainly hurt his campaign if he was on the record as being shall issue, but make no mistake about it...HE WILL NOT BE SHALL ISSUE!

Ken is a great guy and a worthy candidate for the job, but if he wins he will not ease restrictions on CCW permits. That said, Baca definitely needs to go.

choochboost wrote:

. . . but if he wins he will not ease restrictions on CCW permits.

Do you have grounds for that belief?

I don't think that any Los Angeles County sheriff will dare to say "Shall Issue" out loud in my lifetime, even after election, so I'll settle for someone with a policy I can live with. In my belief, that could be Ken. However, make your minds up for yourselves. Email Ken (ken@kenmasse.com) your phone number, and I'm sure you'll get a callback. But, remember, if you ask the bland "What is your position", you'll get a bland reply. To get him to open up a little, you'll have to convince him that you aren't a liberal reporter looking for a "Sheriff Candidate is a Gun Nut" headline.

Sure, he could be lying, but he comes over as sincere to me.

Do you have grounds for that belief?

Yes, but nothing that I could really get into too much here.

you'll have to convince him that you aren't a liberal reporter looking for a "Sheriff Candidate is a Gun Nut" headline.

We have crossed paths several times over the years and have mutual friends and colleagues. He knows who I am.

Sure, he could be lying, but he comes over as sincere to me.

I don't know what he told you, but I don't think he was lying. I consider him to be a man of integrity. If I could vote for him, there is no question that I would. I believe in Ken even more than I detest Baca. But...when it comes to gun issues, based on my interactions with him and from those I am connected with inside his campaign, I just don't believe he will be shall issue.

The last time I spoke with him about this was about 2 months ago. He may have softened his position a bit since then as I'm sure he is getting an unusually high number of CCW related inquiries which may have given him some insight into the voice that we have.

I just had a long phone conversation with Mr. Masse. I was quite impressed.

when it comes to gun issues, based on my interactions with him and from those I am connected with inside his campaign, I just don't believe he will be shall issue.

Obviously he cannot promise to be shall-issue, and we discussed that in the call, and I agree with him: If you were sheriff here, would you be shall-issue? Probably none of us would. Would you sign a permit for OJ Simpson? I wouldn't. Would you sign a permit for someone you know gets in fights, associates with ciriminals, etc? I wouldn't. If some sheriff promises to be shall-issue, he's promising that he would sign off on OJ's permit and any others like that. Mr. Masse is pragmatic about these things, and also the political realities of LA. There's lots of education to be done about CCW in California. I stand by my endorsement of Mr. Masse.

We also discussed other non-CCW issues and he made a favorable impression all around.

Finally, it seems like his campaign has the momentum, and I'm happy about that.

I'm probably answering a question that wasn't being asked...I just wanted to make it clear Ken is very cautious about the gun issue, not just for political reasons, that's just his personal conviction. I didn't want members of this forum getting the impression his CCW policy would be similar two Carona's in OC. But Ken is a quality guy and deserves to be the next Sheriff of LA county.