Woman concealed carry gun in purse
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“’It’s gotten to a point where residents feel insecure even going from their door to their car,’ said resident Shirley Reitman. ‘A lot of residents are applying for a concealed carry weapon permit, even though that’s a great challenge in LA County.’”

Does this woman live in a tough, violence-prone neighborhood in east L.A.? Is she a single mom stuck living in gang-infested Compton with stray bullets regularly flying?

Nope. Ms. Reitman lives in tony Beverly Hills. She says she’s “always been anti-gun,” but she also has eyes and is able to discern what’s happening around her, even from the sometimes carefully curated media accounts of the crime spike in Los Angeles and how it’s now encroaching on even her wealthy neighborhood.

Last week, an 81-year-old Beverly Hills resident was shot and killed during a home invasion. Unlike yet another drive-by in Inglewood, news like that tends to get people’s attention. When one of Oprah’s friends is victimized, the crime problem suddenly becomes real.

That’s what prompted Soros-backed “prosecutor” George Gascon to get himself in front of reporters earlier this week to try to tell LA residents to calm down. His soft-on-crime approach to criminal justice is working out spectacularly well, he said. Really. Everything is just fine.

Somehow, though, Gascon’s reassurances haven’t made much of an impression on Ms. Reitman or her neighbors. As the New York Post reports, in may-issue California, the LA County Sheriff — who really doesn’t like to approve carry permit applications — has been busy lately.

According to LA County Sheriff Alejandro Villanueva, the department has received 8,105 concealed carry weapon applications and approved 2,102 of them since he took office in December 2018, compared to his predecessor having issued 194 permits in four years.

“Even hardcore leftist Democrats who said to me in the past, ‘I’ll never own a gun’ are calling me asking about firearms,” said Joel Glucksman, a private security executive. “I’d say there has been an increase of 80 percent in the number of requests I’m getting this year.”

It seems that voting for he same people, time and again, and hoping that their policies of eliminating cash bail, defunding the police, and declining to enforce large swaths of the criminal code eventually comes home to roost.

“What you’re seeing is the spillover into these communities of crime and violence,” explained LA police officer Steve Robinson. “Before, you would never hear of a robbery or a shooting [In Beverly Hills], or if you did, it was once or twice a year. In 2020, the Beverly Hills Police Department pulled 18 guns off Rodeo Drive. You go back any year before that, and it may have been zero to one or two.”

Hence Ms. Reitman’s newfound interest in gun ownership. She’s having to deal with problems that once only concerned Los Angeles’s poor and middle class.

“It’s like we’ve been taken over by gang members and criminals because they know that Gascón is going to make sure he doesn’t prosecute them,” said one woman, a writer in the entertainment industry, who did not want to be identified. “He’s saying, ‘Hey, go out and rob someone for $900 worth. Get arrested, go back out on the street.”

This is otherwise known as being mugged by reality.

A California ballot initiative, passed in 2014, allows the theft of items up to $950 before the crime counts as a felony, as well as the possession of three grams of hard drugs including meth. The combination, say law enforcement, has been toxic.

How is that working out?

Somehow supporting the same people who espouse the same tired, failed policies over and over again never seemed to be a problem. Until now.

Beverly Hills and surrounding neighborhoods like Brentwood and Bel-Air are famously home to liberal celebrities. People interviewed on Beverly Hills’ Rodeo Drive wanted me to know that they are very concerned about racism and police brutality.

But the killing of [Jacqueline] Avant was a wake-up call. “My industry is filled with progressives who have the luxury of being idealists and espousing philosophies they they thought would never come back and bite them,” said the entertainment writer, who is in her early 60s. “There’s a shift now that it’s become so much more dangerous.”

Ms. Reitman and her newly-concerned friends probably don’t have to worry too much about navigating the intentionally arduous gun acquisition process in LA County. While Sheriff Villanueva is still turning down 75% of the applications he receives, Reitman and her well-to-do friends probably have the clout, connections, and cash needed to ensure their applications are approved forthwith.

And now that the city’s pathologies are intruding on even these rarified neighborhoods, it’s time to do something besides arming up.

There is now a bipartisan recall campaign underway that could remove Gascón from office, and all of the fearful Beverly Hill residents interviewed by The Post said they supported it.

Shazam. It sounds like what these formerly insulated Los Angelenos are experiencing is changing hearts and minds. But not too much.

“I think I’m still radical,” said [former 60s radical Vera] Markowitz, “but I’m radical in the middle. I’m just not on the extreme of anything. I’ve always believed that when you believe in something, you fight for whatever it is.”

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57 COMMENTS

    • I wish I could link the image of the map I’m looking at right now (I downloaded it yesterday to my PC, so it’s not on the original site I was on), but Los Angeles County – being the nation’s most populous county – has more people than the entire populations of 40 other States. Think about that for a minute. We have about 9500 uniformed LASD, and about that many LAPD, walking the beat to patrol 10 million people.

      So, once again, I surmise that the LASD simply isn’t able to manage the tidal wave of CCW permit applications, and seeing that we’re a “may issue” state, there’s nothing we can do but wait.

      I spoke with more than one person involved with the permitting process, and they both confirmed that the LASD is prioritizing friends and family of Dept members first. Then allegedly LAFD. The rest of us plebes just wait in line for our soup…

      Remember, it’s not what you know, but who you know that gets you places in Guv.

  3. The marxist democRat plan was to increase crime so gullible citizens living in fear would jump to remedy the problem with, “Gun Control.” Well Gun Control works the same everywhere just like it worked for unarmed Black Americans living in plantation shacks and Jews living in nazi germany. So not to further complicate the matter…

    1) The Second Amendment is one thing.

    2) The criminal misuse of firearms, bricks, bats, knives, vehicles, etc. is another thing.

    3) History Confirms Gun Control in any shape, matter or form is a racist and nazi based Thing.

  4. Used to be blight was dealt with either by repair or removal.
    Now it’s praised, protected and encouraged by virtue signalling fools.
    Oh, look. The blight spread.
    Shocked, I am.

    • Apply for CCL? When yer rich you pay a peasant to do the dirty work. I betcha Oprah & her neighbors Harry n Meagan pay for play @Who cares???

  6. Perhaps they should just put more “no guns allowed” signs throughout the city and on their properties….

  7. I have very little pity for people who voted for creating the climate they now live in. Sign up for the democrat (communist party USA) agenda assures bad things will happen as they now are experiencing. I don’t care if it gets a lot worse.

    On second thought, maybe I do care. If it gets bad enough those people will move out and contaminate other places.

    We need a wall around californicate and not allow any of the woke to move out. Let them stew in their own juices in the mess they have made.

  8. I’m sure the recall efforts will be as successful as the earlier recall of Gavin Newsom…
    Or maybe they can get the Baldwin security co. to patrol their neighborhood.

  9. I grew up there. During the Watts riots there were rumors of caravans driving from there to torch Brentwood/Bel Air/Beverly Hills and people in our neighborhood were hysterical. It didn’t happen then, but now, in a way, it has. Now, the crime they’ve been insulated from has come to their doorstep.

    For years these people have donated vast sums of money to candidates who espoused and instituted these destructive policies out of a sense of misbegotten altruistic moral superiority. They’ve never had to suffer the consequences of the policies they’ve forced on others.

    F ’em.

  10. I have mixed emotions on this. On one hand I’m glad that more people are coming to realize that the Second Amendment is for them. And they are realizing they cannot rely on the government to protect them.

    . But on the other hand these folks are racists. They are perfectly happy to have people mostly of dark skin being denied the ability to defend themselves. As well as people of the same skin color they hold , but who are of the lower economic classes.

    I think these rich mostly white people, should be only allowed to buy Hi-Point Firearms. And they should be required to only have those weapons for at least two or three years as Penance. For their bigotry they held in the past.

    The poor and middle class will still be denied gun permits. But the rich are able to get a gun permit. Because the rich, criminal or a law-abiding, can always pay someone to get what they want.

    • Jennings and Jimenez only, Hi Points are too nice and reliable. Let them realize how big a gamble life is in general.

      • You are correct on the Jennings and Jimenez guns. They tend to kill their owners. The Hi Points despite everything that people might complain about them. Are in fact good guns. As long as you train with them or any firearm for that matter.

        Part of that Penance that I described above is the fact that high points are a low capacity firearm. And no extended magazines for rich people.

        • Few of my friends had hi points, they handle much like a drill but only ever saw a mechanical failure once (.45 model) and they fixed that very quickly. I am not sure that the Jimenez or Jennings models have much over 8 let alone 10 but honestly I never messed with them. I just think a hi point is a bit too nice for those who would see us helpless and made the process such an ordeal for many in my new home state (*conditions may change by early spring)

  11. The problem that remains, and this is the same problem historically when those of the anti-gun mentality undergo that transformation and accept firearms may provide that level of comfort one previously relished. This isn’t just for those whose attitudes evolved then embraced firearm ownership, it applies to those who don’t embrace the entire approach of safety. Therein lies the problem as most of here that frequent TTAGs are well aware of. An alarm system in your home does no good if you don’t turn it on and a firearm doesn’t make bad guys go away. We all know where I’m going with this, our safety is more than just owning a firearm and this isn’t all inclusive but it’s also knowing the laws of self-defense, recognizing and identifying threats long in advance, being vigilant and JUST as important as anything along many I left out, be 100% WILLING to take that step without hesitation into that realm of taking someone’s life. Most of us here can do that but I know people who own firearms who have no training and they couldn’t and wouldn’t because they lack that mindset, training and knowledge.

    A firearm for safety isn’t a bible. While those who were anti-gun to start and changed is good for us as a whole, for many an individual, it’s not going to do a bit of good.

    • “Owning a handgun doesn’t make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician.” Jeff Cooper.

  12. Chris, being forced to own a Hi-Point would fall under the “cruel and unusual punishment” clause.

    • Actually I was trying to not punish them too severely. I could have had them be only allowed to have the ALTOR, the new single shot 9 mm handgun. You have to unscrew the barrel each time to load your single bullet.

      They say it’s the cheapest brand new handgun in America.

  14. It makes me sad to think of all those virtue-signaling communist morons being able to protect themselves from the sh!tstorm they unleashed upon the world. Why can’t they just die like the little people they despise so much?

  15. For all their posturing about BLM, systemic racism and all the other nonsense, liberals were fine with out of control crime and murder rates, just so long as it was confined to parts of town where “those people” lived.

    • They were not only fine with it. They promoted and engaged in it. You see all those lily white SS/antifa stormtroopers burning and looting small, family owned businesses? Many of those businesses were owned by minorities.

      Does anyone think those are poor white kids out there raising hell? It’s the kids of the privileged.

      There are no more liberals or progressives left in America. The left was bought out by corporate billionaires and converted to fascism.

      • I imagine one could swap the audio tracks between a pre-action antifa meeting a pre-action klan meeting and none would be able to tell which group was saying what.

        After all the gist of each is: “let’s go to that predominately minority neighborhood and burn those predominately minority owned businesses and assault those predominantly minority people.”

        If the klan died their costumes black they’d be antifa.

      • Gather ‘round everyone, ‘jwm’ wishes to weigh in with the perspective of the ‘Hitler was just misunderstood’ crowd.

  16. Increases in violent crime in these wealthy neighborhoods will make no difference in the attitudes and political views of the liberals who live there. Here’s what will happen. 1) Local law enforcement agencies will increase their presence in these areas. 2) Several private security companies will see an increase in their business. 3) Gang task forces and street level LEO’s will “get the word out” that these neighborhoods are “off limits”; failure to comply will result in “serious consequences”. 4) Violent crime rates in Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Bel Air, etc. will go down. 5) Politicians will claim they have solved the problem and “protected the public”. 6) Middle and working class neighborhoods will see an upswing in violent crime. Violence will continue unchecked in disadvantaged areas, which will be ignored or glossed over by the media.

    • Yep. To hell with these people.

      But it’s not actually just these people. The initiative that created much of this mess passed with 60% support. An initiative to repeal it failed, with 62% voting against. This is what the voters want. Something is very, very wrong with California.

      • California voters want their Utopia. And those voters are a small percentage of the overall population. The non-voting population could have stopped it. But they chose not to vote.

  17. It is just like Niven and Pournelle’s THE BURNING CITY. The Liberal Lords ensconced in their hilltop mansions in the Lord’s Hills encourage the Lordkin to periodically burn the neighborhoods of the hardworking Kinless who are compelled to wear the noose as a symbol of their subservience.

    It is time for the Lordkin to go on safari in the Lord’s Hills to loot, burn, rape and murder the Lords. If not, perhaps the Kinless should indulge themselves.

    • Elmer, Niven and Pournelle’s Lucifer’s Hammer was one of the best post apocalyptic novels I ever read. Began and finished it on a rainy weekend. Ranks up there with Alas, Babylon. Never heard of The Burning City, but my search begins now.

  18. typical california liberal:
    voting for gun control as long as theres no crime in THEIR neighborhood

    • Getting their own gun and STILL voting for gun control, because they got theirs, and to hell with everybody else.

  22. Good job, Gascon! You’ve discovered the most effective way to advance 2A rights in California. I think the same method is working in NY, IL, WA, WDC, and OR too.

  23. “…and approved 2,102 of them since he took office in December 2018,…”
    Wow, what an accomplishment! That’s like 700 per year! /sarc
    My state has a little over half the population of LA county alone and has nearly 10x the number of active ccw permits of ALL Commifornia. 700 permits is considered ‘an average Tuesday’, not some great accomplishment.

  24. Since I reside in a permitless carry State, I can’t help but chuckle about the problems the people in CA complain about. So Sad. Too Bad. Chuckle chuckle. 😀

  25. While I firmly believe the CCW permit is a joke, I do like the system here. Pay your $25.00 fill out the papers, run the background check, get your picture taken and in about 2 weeks you get your nice permit card.
    Guess the limousine liberal/leftists in Bel Aire and Beverly Hills are finding out that getting a gun and permit to carry it isn’t easier than buying a teddy bear or computer like Saint Barry claimed.
    Wall of California and keep the leftists there to live with the mess they made. Rather than allowingthem to leave and take their crap politics with them.

  26. “but I’m radical in the middle. I’m just not on the extreme of anything.”

    She only got light-green hair.

  27. They should give Alec Baldwin a prop gun and send him to Beverly Hills and Bel Air to take care of this crime problem.

  28. “I think I’m still radical,” said [former 60s radical Vera] Markowitz, “but I’m radical in the middle. I’m just not on the extreme of anything. I’ve always believed that when you believe in something, you fight for whatever it is.”

    Vera Markowitz is the founder of the ‘JUST IN CASE, BH’ program. The ‘Just in Case BH’ program is the city’s emergency preparedness program. The program combines neighborhood watch with community preparedness, linking the city’s emergency’s services and agencies with every resident and business before emergency strikes.

    Maybe the should think about adding firearms training.

  29. The harsh reality is that things only matter when they matter to people that matter.

    I am split between displeased to see the crime rate inching back up, and the interest being paid by people in a position to bring about change.

  30. Oddly enough, the model in the picture uses an Umarex airsoft Glock. The banner on the frame says “Officially Licensed Product of Glock”.

  32. A California “BALLOT INITIATIVE PASSED IN 2014”, allows the theft of items up to $950 before the crime counts as a felony, as well as the possession of three grams of hard drugs including meth. Sorry no sympathy here for these IDIOTS

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