James Cross doesn’t have kind words for California’s gun laws.
Cross, who helped organize a Saturday Second Amendment rally in Concord with the National Constitutional Coalition of Patriotic Americans, said he moved permanently across the country in 2013 from the state where he was born because the Golden State’s gun laws, “they suck,” he said. He was tired of feeling like his rights were being trampled on. Being in New Hampshire makes him feel safer, he said – and makes him feel like his grandchildren are safe, too.
“It’s the best crime control,” Cross said, who said he almost always carries a concealed weapon. Rarely does he open carry, saying in some situations – such as if he was to walk into a convenience store late at night and the store was to be robbed – it could cause confusion. “It’s important to not just be another victim – it gives you a fighting chance.”
It’s true that California has some of the tightest gun restrictions in the country. Everytown for Gun Safety[1] notes the state has 50 of what it identifies as “key laws,” including strict ownership and permitting rules, whereas New Hampshire has six, according to its website.
The National Rifle Association[2] ranks California on its website as a state with “rights restricted – very limited use,” when it comes to right-to-carry laws, saying, “State law that gives the government complete discretion over the issuance of carry permits, and where that discretion is normally used to deny the issuance of permits.” New Hampshire, in contrast, is a no permit required state.
The more relaxed restrictions were on full display Saturday in Concord.
For some attendees of a weekend gun show and participants in a national Second Amendment rally – both held
