When the Supreme Court struck down "may issue" concealed carry licensing regimes as a violation of the Second Amendment, Kamala Harris bemoaned the decision, saying it "defies the Constitution and common sense". Given Harris's hostility towards the right to keep and bear arms in general (she also argued as San Francisco D.A. that Washington, D.C.'s ban on handguns didn't violate the Second Amendment), she presumably doesn't believe that the right to bear arms exists at all. At the very least, she prefers the broad leeway given to law enforcement to approve or deny permits under a "may issue" system, which prevented many Californians (and residents in the handful of other may-issue states) from being able to access their right to bear arms.

These "may issue" regimes not only allow law enforcement to block lawful gun owners from exercising a fundamental right. They foster a culture of graft and corruption on the part of licensing authorities. That was the case with Anthony Reyes Vasquez, who served as the chief of the Manzanita Tribal Police Department in southern California from 2012 to 2018. According to federal prosecutors, Vasquez essentially allowed wealthy Californians to purchase a badge, allowing them the ability to carry a concealed firearm even if they lived in places where carry permits were rarely approved. 

Despite those individuals having little to no law enforcement experience, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said they paid anywhere from $5,000 to $100,000 in “donations” to join the department.

Those recruited people — known as the “VIP Group” — were not expected to perform any law enforcement services and many had never visited the Manzanita Band reservation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

More than $700,000 in “donations” were solicited throughout the scheme, with Vazquez keeping about $300,000 out of those payments, prosecutors said. He also paid kickbacks to recruiters and paid himself around $2,000 per month as reimbursement for travel expenses from his home to the reservation.

The case led to federal charges against two other men in Los Angeles for buying or selling the phony badges. Both have pleaded guilty and one has been sentenced to probation, with the other defendant expected to also receive a sentence of probation.

Vasquez pleaded guilty for his role in the scheme almost three years ago, but just learned his own sentence this week. While it involves a little more than probation, it still amounts to a slap on the wrist: 10 months of home detention, 12 weekends in jail, along with 3 years of probation.

Vasquez isn't the only California law enforcement official to use the state's "may issue" regime to rake in cash. Former Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith was found guilty of corruption in a civil trial in 2022, and Captain Rick Jensen was convicted of felony conspiracy and bribery charges earlier this year. Former undersheriff Rick Sung is still facing several charges related to the pay-to-play scheme, in which cash and goods were provided to the sheriff's department and a PAC supporting Smith's re-election in exchange for the sheriff's approval of rarely-issued carry permits. 

The "may issue" system preferred by Kamala Harris allowed law enforcement to deny permits to individuals facing death threats, while issuing permits to well-funded and deep-pocketed donors, including individuals who didn't even live in Santa Clara County and were ineligible to receive them. It opened the door for Vasquez to essentially sell access to the right to bear arms to the highest bidder, while depriving an untold number of Californians of that same right. 

I doubt Harris's views on "may issue" versus "shall issue" will come up in tonight's debate. Still, Vasquez's soft sentence is another reminder of just how abusive these "may issue" systems really are. Harris's objection to the demise of these regimes is what truly defies common sense and the Constitution.