Ronald Reagan on carrying loaded firearms in public

“Americans don’t go around carrying guns with the idea they’re using them to influence other Americans. There’s no reason why on the street today a citizen should be carrying loaded weapons.”

–Ronald Reagan, then Governor of California, speaking in Sacramento, California, Tuesday, May 2, 1967, after “a dozen of the armed youth – members of the “Black Panther Party” – succeeded in penetrating briefly before they were ushered out and several of the loaded rifles, pistols and shotguns taken away by two state policemen in a mild struggle. He agreed, however, with the group’s contention they have the right to bear arms. At present there is no law in California against possessing a loaded, legal gun as long as it isn’t concealed.” Story by Jerry Rankin.

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