No Escape from Calif. Lunacy for 2nd Amendment

California has a strange policy: They’ll issue you a concealed carry permit on condition that you never use it, according to the National Rifle Association.

“Vince Ricci was coming back to his LA home on a quiet evening when two robbers jumped his wall and pointed guns at his chest,” the NRA reported Friday on social media.

“But they weren’t ready for what was about to happen.”

Ricci was both armed and held a concealed carry permit, to protect himself, his family and his home.

He then described what happened in a video attached to the NRA post.

"It was a quiet evening and I was coming home from the gym. Two armed men, masked, hopped over the wall, ran down on me with guns and the most terrifying part was, my wife and my 5-month-old baby were on the other side of that door. In an effort to protect my family, I drew my gun and returned gunfire. As a result of that night, the California government has temporarily suspended my ability to conceal carry."

But self-protection is what the permit is for, right? He thought so. Not in California.

"After successfully defending my home and my family and my 5-month-old child, California has now decided to suspend my Second Amendment," Ricci said. The video also included the terrifying surveillance footage of the attack and Ricci’s response.

Meanwhile Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon routinely lets criminals like the pair that confronted Ricci skate with barely a slap on the wrist.

This issue isn’t just occurring in Los Angeles, or even California. Other Democratic states are punishing the “good guy with a gun” every day.

Earlier this month Matthew Roesch, a 49-year-old homeless man, accosted a woman at a Manhattan subway station with the intent of robbing her.

John Rote, 43, of Astoria, Queens, noticed what was going down and shouted, “Get away from her!” He then pulled a handgun from his backpack and fired two rounds in the direction of Roesch, ending the mugging.

Rote was later charged with criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a firearm, reckless endangerment and menacing for the caught-on-camera shooting, according to the NYPD.

He had a squeaky-clean criminal record and has worked at the same company for 17 years, but now faces a possible three-and-a-half-year prison sentence. The arraignment judge set his bail at $10,000 at the prosecution’s request — an amount he couldn’t make.

Roesch was charged with attempted robbery for trying to forcibly snatch the woman’s belongings, and was free to go on supervised release.

Also this month and a bit further north of Manhattan, a Brockton, Massachusetts, man is also facing a laundry list of charges for defending himself against a knife-wielding attacker.

Khamani Anderson, 18, was working at a retail store when he got into a dispute with a customer, Brandon Theodat, 26, with whom store employees had had problems before. When the argument escalated, an assistant manager told Anderson to walk away.

The store clerk entered a locker room and the customer followed. Anderson retrieved his handgun, and shot Theodat once in the leg.

Anderson is now facing charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building, possession of a loaded firearm during a felony and improper storage of a firearm, according to the Brockton Police Department.

Theodat is charged with assault and battery with a knife, disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct and default warrant.

Unlike Ricco in California, neither Rote nor Anderson possessed a concealed carry permit. But getting to basics, the Second Amendment is all about defense of self and others — not hunting, not plinking at tin cans.

In recognition of that fact, a majority of the states have passed permitless carry laws, also known as constitutional carry, which allow residents to carry as long as they meet age requirements and possess identification. On Saturday, September 2, Nebraska became the 27th state to do so.

The Miami Herald editorial board predicted doom and gloom when Florida permitless carry went into effect July 1. It’s too early to tell what effect, if any, the new law will have in crime in the Sunshine State. However, after Ohio enacted theirs, violent crime actually declined.

Politicians’ knee-jerk reaction to any tragedy in which guns are used is to restrict the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. However, guns save thousands of lives every day, according to a study ordered by then-President Barack Obama.

“Good guys with guns” saved lives and property in the above examples from California, New York and Massachusetts. Government’s reaction was to punish the “good guys.”

Liberty isn’t the only thing lost when Second Amendment rights are restricted. Lives are lost, too.