California politicians have to qualify like everybody else to carry firearms...

[spin]

Provision streamlining gun permits for elected officials is stricken from bill
Some legislators objected that it would mean special treatment for lawmakers.

April 06, 2011|By Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Sacramento -- California politicians who want to carry weapons will still have to go through the same permit process as everyone else, at least for now.

A bill that would have streamlined the state's gun permit process for them was stripped of that controversial provision Tuesday, before a legislative committee passed the rest of the measure. Sen. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood), author of the bill, said he hoped to revisit the idea later.

State residents who apply for a permit to carry a concealed weapon must show good cause for one. That can include dangerous work or threats of violence. Wright's measure would have established that good cause existed in elected officials' need for "for protection or self-defense."

Some legislators objected to special treatment for lawmakers over people in many other professions, including teachers and parking enforcement officers, who could make the same case for good cause.
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/06/local/la-me-guns-20110406

The simple solution would be for Californian politicians to simply pass "shall issue" concealed carry. Having to show a "need" to carry a firearm makes the assumption that the only time a person is attacked is when there is a logical reason - such as his carrying large amounts of cash. In real life criminals are not exceptionally good at reasoning. Often they commit incredibly stupid crimes such as robbing convenience stores which have little money or mugging people on the street for the money in their wallet. Some suffer from mental illness and attack people for no reason.

Rather than pass "shall issue" concealed carry, the politicians wanted to pass a "guns for me but not for thee" law that would have enabled them to pack heat while continuing to make it extremely difficult for the average person. Of course, politicians always feel that they are part of the privileged few.

[Logical]

1. They should be treated no different than anyone else. n-t

[Euromutt]

3. It's a basic safeguard of democratic government via separation of powers

One of the safeguards to prevent abuse of power is that the legislative branch of government should not be allowed to exempt itself from laws it creates.

[TheWraith]

2. Good for the lawmakers who objected.

In many other places, including most with "may issue" and others, politicians are one of the "special classes" who get easier treatment. In fact, in Illinois where NO ONE is supposed to be allowed to carry, there's exceptions for the Chicago aldermen. They're entitled to handguns for self defense, usually unregistered and otherwise illegal, but no one else is.

[WatsonT]

4. Seems fair

they should live under the same laws as everyone else.

[oneshooter]

5. It doesn't help the Democratic Party that a Dem. pushed it.

"Sen. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood), author of the bill, said he hoped to revisit the idea later."

Oneshooter
Armed and Livin in Texas

[virginia mountainman]

6. And most of the ones that supported it..

Have a strong record pushing gun control on the rest of California..

[spin]

7. Many people would probably say that being a politician is a reason not to be allowed to carry ...

Politicians don't inspire a lot of confidence.

Sales has been dethroned as the least trusted profession in America, revealed a recent survey.

Sixty-eight percent of Americans now feel politics is the least trusted profession in America, knocking off Sales as the long-time incumbent, found a new survey by Sandler Training. emphasis added

While most feel the shift to politics is a reflection of the major rift between this country’s political parties and the rash of scandals that have sprouted up over the past few years or so, the real surprise was that politics was such a runaway winner (or loser, depending on your perspective).

The top six on the list of professions people voted as the least trustworthy:

Politics (68%)
Sales (9%)
Law (7%)
Journalism (6%)
Banking (6%)
Automotive repair (5%)
http://www.businessbrief.com/sales-no-longer-least-trusted-profession-but-guess-what-is/

[LibertyFox]

8. I'm okay with this!

Nobody should trust politicians anyway. That's why we have elections.