Sheriff’s Gun Permit Policy Draws Fire : Recall: Sutter County residents are trying to oust Arthur Brandwood because he has cracked down on awarding permits for carrying concealed weapons.

Newly elected Sheriff Arthur Brandwood had served as the chief law enforcement officer of rural Sutter County for scarcely three months when he was handed a political rattlesnake: an official notice of intent to recall and remove him from office.

Arrival of the document April 12 added a new twist to the sheriff’s squabble with gun owners over his crackdown on the long-established practice of granting permits for concealed weapons to residents who want to carry handguns under their clothing, in handbags or in automobile glove compartments.

In Sutter County, population 64,415, there are 1,350 of these permits in circulation, Brandwood said. That is one for every 48 residents, among the highest per capita rates in California. In contrast, the per capita rate in Los Angeles County is one for every 24,216 people.

But many angry gun owners in the agricultural county 45 miles north of Sacramento condemned Brandwood’s abrupt tightening of the policy as an assault on their U.S. constitutional right to keep and bear arms and their state constitutional right to defend themselves and their property.

Not so, said Brandwood, a former Yuba City police captain who also has worked as a peace officer in urban Oakland and Miami. He campaigned last year as “a cop, not a politician,” ousting Roy Whitaker, the 20-year incumbent who received international attention in 1971 for arresting Juan Corona, who was convicted of mass murder.

“I totally, totally believe in the right to keep and bear arms and to protect one’s property,” said the husky, 6-foot-tall Brandwood, a hunter who sports a well-worn American flag pin in his lapel. “Some people twisted it around to make (the issue) the ‘right to keep and bear arms’ and also ‘gun control,’ which has absolutely nothing to do with it.”

Brandwood said he imposed the stiffer requirements on permits, which are usually for handguns, not because of crime-fighting reasons but out of fear that he and the county could face costly judgments if they were found liable in an illegal shooting committed by a permit-holder.

Brandwood, 52, said in an interview last week that he knows of no such suit ever having been filed in California and agreed with his critics that local permit-holders do not constitute an enforcement problem. But he said members of the California State Sheriffs Assn. were warned by their lawyer that “as lawsuit-happy as people are out there,” steps should be taken to guard against liability suits.

“It was a preventive-type situation,” Brandwood said of his new policy, which requires applicants to specify in detail their “good cause” reasons for needing the permit. No longer will such vague justification as “I carry a lot of cash” or “self-protection” be sufficient, Brandwood said.

But in many parts of rural Northern California, ownership and use of firearms is considered a virtual birthright dating to the Gold Rush.

“It is comforting to know that if you run into some problems that you can confront them and not run off,” said Earl Pelfrey, a roofing contractor, permit-holder, and supporter of the recall effort.

State law has long required applicants to be fingerprinted and investigated by the state Division of Law Enforcement to determine whether they have criminal records that would disqualify them. Although permits are issued annually by local sheriffs, they are valid statewide.

Historically, the permits have been regarded as political favors to friends of sheriffs. In recent years, many sheriffs, especially those in urban counties, have cut them back substantially. Last year, 30,577 permits were approved, compared with 40,642 five years earlier.

Peaceful in their lifestyle in this middle-American agricultural community, some Sutter County families can trace their roots to pioneer settlers who have farmed for generations along the banks of the meandering Feather and Sacramento rivers. For hunters, the area is considered first-class waterfowl and pheasant territory.

Recall proponents, who say that they have 2,900 of the nearly 6,000 signatures needed by Aug. 22 to force a special election, contend that the key issue is Sutter County’s position as a protector of law-abiding citizens’ right to be free from undue government intervention.

“Of course it’s a gun control issue,” said Dave A. Bradley, a real estate salesman who said he has carried a permit for about 12 years. “How would you feel if the Department of Motor Vehicles refused to renew your driver’s license and you were given no reason?”

He added: “My permit is as much my personal property as my gun is my personal property and personal property is protected by the Constitution.”

Pelfrey, who said he had voted for Brandwood, charged that not until the sheriff was threatened with a recall petition did he agree to meet with gun owners over the issue.

For his part, Brandwood conceded that he should have met with permit holders before changing the policy. He said he has apologized for his impolitic handling of the situation, which at one point included his use of the flash-fire term Wild West mentality.

“I’m 30-years plus in law enforcement, but I’d never been involved in the political arena,” the unsmiling sheriff said in the interview. “Given it to do over again, I think it could have been handled smoother.”

He said he is convinced that after consulting with gun owners and after five separate revisions of the policy, he has imposed rules that are fair to applicants and offer protection against the possibility of lawsuits. Brandwood said he believes that his definition of “good cause” can be met by most applicants who have an “articulated” need for a concealed gun.

In addition to providing detailed reasons for carrying a concealed weapon, applicants for a new license or a license renewal must complete a three-hour class in laws governing the use of deadly force and firearms safety, and must shoot a pistol at a firing range. “Nobody who has taken it so far has failed,” he said.

Brandwood insisted that in beginning his term, he did not single out the permits for special action, saying that they were among many policies that had been in place for three decades. Before the permit policy was tightened, Brandwood said, “We had a person come through whose eyesight was so bad that (he) couldn’t see to sign the line.”

Recall proponents such as Bradley maintain that in devising a definition of “good cause,” Brandwood exceeded his legal authority.

Bradley said that in the sprawling 670-square-mile Sutter County, a citizen must have the capability to protect himself because sheriff’s deputies cannot be expected to respond immediately to emergencies.

Brandwood agreed about response times to remote parts of Sutter County, but insists that his standards of “good cause” are flexible enough to cover most situations.

Brandwood reported that 50 renewal applications have been approved under the tighter standards and that three were denied.

Pelfrey said the recall effort will be pursued because of “mistrust” of Brandwood. He said Brandwood is renewing gun permits and “his door seems to be open now, but we don’t know what will happen when the (recall) pressure is off.”

Brandwood said for him the political bottom line is: “I don’t think they are happy that I won the last election. They want me out, period. . . . If they are able to get the signatures for an election, all it will be is a reconfirmation election.”

At a Glance: Sutter County POPULATION: 64,415 COUNTY SEAT: Yuba City GUN PERMITS IN COUNTY: 1,350, according to the sheriff. CURRENT ISSUE: Sheriff Arthur Brandwood, who took office in January, established a strict policy on issuing concealed-gun permits to residents. In response, long-time permit holders organized a recall campaign. HISTORY: One of state’s original counties, founded in 1850. ECONOMY: * Mostly agricultural; prunes, rice and food processing. * Beale Air Force Base in neighboring Yuba County also seen as an economic asset for Sutter. KEY SITES: * Feather and Sacramento rivers are primary sources for water recreation. * Area marshlands are highly regarded for waterfowl hunting. * The volcanic Sutter Buttes, sometimes called the smallest mountain range in the world, rise from flat valley floor to 2,117 feet. OF NOTE: In 1985, map makers at Rand McNally listed the Sutter County seat of Yuba City as the worst place to live in the United States, a slam that enraged residents.

Hidden Weapons Permits Here is a breakdown of permits, by selected counties based on 1990 figures, to carry a concealed weapon.A concealed-weapon permit enables a citizen to legally carry a firearm outof public view. County sheriffs determine who may have such a gun permit.

COUNTY POPULATION PERMITS RATIO Sutter* 64,415 1,350 1 out of 48 Glenn 24,798 414 1 out of 60 Colusa 16,275 217 1 out of 75 Yuba 58,228 656 1 out of 89 Butte 182,120 826 1 out of 220 San Diego 2,498,016 1,960 1 out of 1,274 San Bernardino 1,418,380 1,092 1 out of 1,299 Ventura 669,016 159 1 out of 4,208 Orange 2,410,556 164 1 out of 14,699 Los Angeles 8,863,164 366 1 out of 24,216 San Francisco 723,959 10 1 out of 72,396 All California 29,760,021 30,577 1 out of 973

* 1991 permit figures from county sheriff Compiled by Times researcher Michael Meyers SOURCE: State Division of Law Enforcement and the U.S. Bureau of Census