[joe4702]

This is a hypothetical but serious question.

How much money would an ordinary, un-famous, un-connected,
un-political, law-abiding citizen have to "donate"
to Sheriff Bill Kolender to be granted a California CCW?

think $30G

for a criminal defemse attorney, that is.

Idiot.

[grammaton76]

Keep chipping a thousand dollars a month in, and sooner or later either you'll be bankrupt or he'll say you donated enough. I believe you'll get to #1 first.

[Alphahookups]

Is there any way to sue for unequal rights seeing that other cities in CA are more then willing to offer us a CCW under the same conditions?

[ohsmily]

Originally Posted by Alphahookups

Is there any way to sue for unequal rights seeing that other cities in CA are more then willing to offer us a CCW under the same conditions?

Sure, but your case will be dismissed on summary judgment since the gov't only needs a legitimate interest to enforce such a policy.

[xenophobe]

I'm not sure about down there, but up here in Santa Clara County, a donation of $20,000-$30,000 to the Sheriff's Association will give your application a second look and maybe increase your chances from a resounding NO to 5-10%...

[linuxgunner]

Come on over to: http://californiaccw.org where you can get better answers.

How much do you have to donate? I have no idea for Sheriff Kolender in particular, but it's hard to imagine that if someone raised, say, $100k for a sheriff's campaign, that person would not get a permit. Note that there are campaign finance laws that limit individual donations to something pretty small (is it $1000 or $2000?) So the key is if you can organize a dinner where you get 100 people to show up and donate $1000 each. And no, you can't give 100 of your friends $1000 and then have them donate it; that's a felony. These have to be bona fide donations.

I assume that if you can do that you will get a permit anywhere except SF. In SF the sheriff runs unopposed so he doesn't need any campaign contributions (btw SF Sheriff Hennessey seems like a good guy, other than his stance on CCW).

Also, if you donate, say, $500k to the department for their budget, it's hard to believe that most depts wouldn't issue you a permit in CA. What are they going to do, say, "hey, thanks for paying the salary of eight people in this office for the next year, now go away, we're busy?" Human beings just don't work that way on this planet.

However, I'm 99% certain that the people making these big donations are not doing it just for CCWs. They are doing it for other connections, other permits (building permits, whatever) and general influence around the county. People in certain businesses need this type of influence.

Looking at the economics, it would make more sense to spend the money on some nice piece of land in a rural county in Nothern California, and set up a residence there. You can buy a nice (small) piece of land in Northern California for $50k or so, and then you get the permit AND you have a nice piece of land. Or you could rent an apartment somewhere in Eureka for, say, $5k/year.

Also for $50k or so you could torture them in court enough that they might just give up and issue rather than fight. Maybe.

So looking at it in pure economic terms, anyone with enough "extra cash" to blow, say, $5k/year on rent, or $50k on land, can set up a 2nd residence. Anyone with enough "extra cash" to blow $500k in donations and general influence money could probably get issued in any county except SF (SF residents who need to pack, like PIs, set up second residences).

Bottom line: There's no such thing as donating $100k or more to anything (whether it's the sheriff's dept or the city opera or a homeless shelter or anything else) and then being treated just like a regular Joe. That's not how human beings work. And people who make those kind of donations are 99% of the time doing it not just because they are such wonderful generous people who don't want anything at all in return.

Is this corruption? Absolutely. The solution is to take discretion out of the hands of sheriffs.

[joe4702]

Originally Posted by glen avon

think $30G

for a criminal defemse attorney, that is.

Idiot.

Bitter about the $30G's you spent and still no CCW? lol.

If you think the corrupt "system" in CA isn't gamed by wealthy people, you're the idiot.

[Rumpled]

I'd say it's at least the legal maximum, whatever that actually is.
Get ahold of his campaign disclosures to see who's given what; that might give you an idea.
How much have people contributed who belong to his "posse" or "golden club" or whatever his main supporters are called?
Then, be one of them.

[gmcem50]

Originally Posted by linuxgunner

...The solution is to take discretion out of the hands of sheriffs.

NOOOOOOOO!!!!

Then those of us who chose the right county in which to live are screwed right along with you.

[Alphahookups]

do you need a reason to have a ccw in cities like san bernardino or is it shall issue? Also do you have to live there 100% of the time?

Originally Posted by joe4702

Bitter about the $30G's you spent and still no CCW? lol.

If you think the corrupt "system" in CA isn't gamed by wealthy people, you're the idiot.

of course. it's always the rich people screwing the Little People like you.

you can verify this all you like. significant donations are reported, and CCWs are public records. you can easily see if there is a pattern.

AS CAN ANYBODY ELSE, SUCH AS AN OPPONENT.

if you think there is a donation/CCW relationship you are an idiot. BECAUSE EVERYBODY WOULD ALREADY KNOW.

now, cronyism is a different matter, but I doubt *any* elected official would have you as a crony if you are going to be such a ham-fisted clod as to walk around with a handful of money looking to purchase political favors IN A PUBLIC FORUM. you would have more luck donating blood as a jaundiced HIV+ leper.

[trinity9]

Originally Posted by glen avon

if you think there is a donation/CCW relationship you are an idiot. BECAUSE EVERYBODY WOULD ALREADY KNOW.

now, cronyism is a different matter...

That would be my take-- donations for favors is too dangerous. It seems to me cronyism via social circles and "clubs" like Kiwanis (sp) and Rotary are far more prevalent and effective.

trinity9

(Oh, and of course those guys from the Da Vinci Code. )