Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill by Assemblyman Tom Lackey allowing retired law enforcement officials to openly carry firearms.
The new law, Assembly Bill 1192, gives retired peace officers permission to openly carry firearms with a high-capacity magazine.
With the previous passage of the Safety For All Act of 2016, it was against state law for any person to carry a high-capacity firearm as of July 2017. The new legislation redefines “honorably retired” to “include a retired reserve officer who has met specified length of service requirements,” according to the bill by Lackey, R-Palmdale.
This law will apply to all retired officers who are officially retired due to disability or end of their service, meet the retirement requirements as a level I officer and will not “include an officer who has agreed to a service retirement in lieu of termination,” the bill said.
Large-capacity magazines hold more than 10 rounds, according to the Giffords Law Center (https://lawcenter.giffords.org). The Assembly Bill allows retired officers to carry their service firearm, which holds 11 rounds.
“I believe that reserve peace officers would make the same sacrifice as full-time peace officers. They’re willing to make the sacrifice to save the life of someone they don’t know,” Lackey, a retired California Highway Patrol officer, said Thursday. “We’re talking about thousands of individuals who will benefit from this, and they’ve proved they’re willing to sacrifice their lives for our safety and I think that says something about their character.”
Now that the bill has passed, Lackey would like to consider allowing carry and conceal permits in the state, he said. With that said, he finds it to be unlikely, but is thankful Brown signed this bill into law.
“But my fellow legislators don’t seem to have the same kind of excitement for that kind of legislation,” he said. “I believe the Second Amendment is a little more powerful than this state wants to recognize.”
Perry Smith contributed to this story.
