zefflyn
Registered. User.
State Senator Perata is one of the leading proponents of gun control in CA, and one of the leading opponents of allowing law-abiding Californians to get licenses to carry concealed weapons for self-protection.
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_7838508?nclick_check=1
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/31/BAOSU71JB.DTL
Standard California CCW permits are valid for 2 years, and Perata had his for decades... I wonder why he suddenly stopped bothering to renew? One of his last renewal letters is here:
http://www.equalccw.com/donperata.gif
Kinda ironic how his biggest fear as a gun banner is getting gunned down by a civil rights enthusiast, so he got himself a permit to carry while simultaneously fighting to prevent anyone else from being able to do so. I highly doubt that Oakland's chief of police issued a CCW permit to Perata's carjacker, so the criminal was not only carrying illegally, but probably has a criminal record, and is prohibited from owning firearms in the first place.
Textbook example of gun control disarming the wrong people.
On another note, I wonder if Perata pimped out his government vehicle on his own dime, or if he charged the 22" rims to taxpayers? If the latter, does this count as a tax refund to the carjacker? arty
* This last paragraph was part of the original story and copy/pasted to an e-mail list, but has since been removed from the online story. I wonder if Perata didn't want it known that his permit expired?
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_7838508?nclick_check=1
State senate leader safe after carjacking in Oakland
By Laura Kurtzman
Associated Press
Article Launched: 12/29/2007 04:39:18 PM PST
Oakland police say a gun-wielding man has robbed California Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata of his government-issue car.
The Oakland Democrat was not harmed in the Saturday afternoon carjacking. Perata's spokeswoman says he got out of the car when the robber tapped on the window of his red Dodge Charger with a gun. The senator was waiting at a red light at 51st Street and Shattuck Avenue in North Oakland at about 1:45 p.m.
Police say a second man drove the robber to the intersection in a two-door gold Chevrolet Camaro that also was stolen.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/31/BAOSU71JB.DTL
Perata's Dodge found near Hilltop Mall 9 hours after carjacking
(12-30) 08:32 PST RICHMOND -- Richmond police have found the vehicle that was carjacked at gunpoint from state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata in North Oakland, authorities said Sunday.
The red 2006 Dodge Charger was found near the corner of Wiswall and Colette drives near Hilltop Mall in Richmond at about 11 p.m. Saturday, nine hours after the carjacking, police said. The car will be processed for evidence.
Told about the recovery of the car, Perata, 62, said Sunday that he was heartened that no one was hurt. "The car is immaterial to me," said the Oakland Democrat, whose home was guarded overnight by the California Highway Patrol and police.
He joked, "At least it was found in my district."
Perata was unharmed after he was accosted by a gunman at 51st Street and Shattuck Avenue in North Oakland about 1:45 p.m. Saturday.
Perata said he was waiting for the traffic light to change when, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a man walking up to him. The senator, who has campaigned against assault weapons and crime, said he mistook the man for a panhandler or window washer at first.
But then the man began pulling a mask over his nose and pointed an automatic handgun at him "gangster style" - holding it sideways - before tapping it on his window and bellowing at him, "Get out of the mother- car."
Perata said he told the man, "I'm outta here," and jumped out of the car, which police say might have been targeted for its 22-inch rims. The man got inside and took off in the car, which also had Perata's cell phone in it.
The carjacker was followed by an accomplice in a gold 2000 Chevrolet Camaro that was stolen in San Leandro on Friday in an incident in which shots were fired, authorities said.
Oakland police Lt. Lawrence Green said police do not believe the assailants recognized Perata on Saturday. The senator told officers that he believed he saw the men at a Union 76 gas station minutes earlier on Broadway Terrace, so it is possible that they followed him to 51st and Shattuck before carjacking him, Green said.
Perata said he was preparing to get on the freeway when he was carjacked and his was the third car waiting at the red light. The gunman was no more than 3 feet away, and at one point, Perata said, he feared that if the assailant panicked and fired a round while fumbling to get his mask over his face, "that would have been the end of me."
Perata, who legally carried a concealed weapon for years because of threats against his life, said there was no firearm in his car when he was carjacked.
Perata said he never had the permit renewed when it expired two years ago because he "just never had the opportunity to re-qualify" at a gun range. Perata obtained the permit out of security concerns stemming from his work regulating firearms.*
Standard California CCW permits are valid for 2 years, and Perata had his for decades... I wonder why he suddenly stopped bothering to renew? One of his last renewal letters is here:
http://www.equalccw.com/donperata.gif
Kinda ironic how his biggest fear as a gun banner is getting gunned down by a civil rights enthusiast, so he got himself a permit to carry while simultaneously fighting to prevent anyone else from being able to do so. I highly doubt that Oakland's chief of police issued a CCW permit to Perata's carjacker, so the criminal was not only carrying illegally, but probably has a criminal record, and is prohibited from owning firearms in the first place.
Textbook example of gun control disarming the wrong people.
On another note, I wonder if Perata pimped out his government vehicle on his own dime, or if he charged the 22" rims to taxpayers? If the latter, does this count as a tax refund to the carjacker? arty
* This last paragraph was part of the original story and copy/pasted to an e-mail list, but has since been removed from the online story. I wonder if Perata didn't want it known that his permit expired?