According to Firearm Chronicles
The mayor of Clovis, California has a message to Gov. Gavin Newsom: hands off our gun stores. In a new letter to Newsom, Mayor Drew Bessinger says that a statewide order closing gun stores would “embolden criminals and frighten an already stressed citizenry,” and urges the governor to reject calls for a statewide shutdown of firearms retailers coming from lawmakers like Assemblyman Miguel Santiago.
In his one-page letter, Bessinger expressed concern about the number of prisoners released from Fresno County jail under a state Judicial Council mandate. Hundreds have either been cut loose or will be released because of the Judicial Council’s $0 bail order for many offenses. “These releases, coupled with the recent releases from California State Prison, will dramatically increase the potential that our citizens will be victimized by these criminals,” Bessinger wrote. “These people have already shown an inability to live amongst their fellow citizens in a peaceful and lawful manner. “Taking our citizens’ right to purchase firearms and ammunition under the guise of an emergency order would embolden criminals and frighten an already stressed citizenry,” Bessinger said.
Bessinger, who’s also the chief of police for Fresno Yosemite International Airport, says the city has been following the current COVID-19 emergency orders, but adds he has an “ethical and moral responsibility to oppose any order that endangered the citizens” he is sworn to protect.