Orange County, CA—The Board of Supervisors meeting was filled with an over capacity crowd as the newly appointed Sheriff,
Sandra Hutchens explained her position revoking and not issuing concealed weapons permits to qualified citizens.
Hutchens demonstrated an attitude that made light of the rights and needs of people requesting the ability to protect themselves and families. Strong evidence of that disrespect was revealed with the release of numerous insulting text messages sent between the hand-picked, high ranking deputies she sent to fight attempts to get Hutchens to take a more measured approach to the permit policy at the last board meeting.
Hutchens informed 423, out of 999 concealed weapon permit holders of her intent to revoke their permits unless they could prove their need for protection would satisfy new demands by the Sheriff. Board members,
Chris Norby and
Janet Nguyen suggested that sending the notices was a form coercion designed to cause permit holder to abandon their rights and needs for the permits.
Hutches sent a heavy handed force of deputies to intimidate and humiliate people who came to monitor board action at the last meeting. Additionaly it was learned that deputies took control of surveillance cameras to spy on board member’s personal notes.
Hutchens’ gun-rights hatred may be appreciated in San Francisco or Los Angeles but is not welcome in Conservative Orange County. She’d never be elected as Sheriff now and her short tenure should come to an unceremonious and quick end.
Numerous speakers called for a no-confidence vote of Hutchens by board members and called for the Sheriff’s resignation.
Hutchens apologized for the” unprofessional text messages.” That is much too little, too late to resurrect the embattled Sheriff’s image. It’s time for Hutchens to enjoy her retirement and to quit enabling violent criminals by disarming trained and vetted civilians who have the right to self-defense.
Sheriff Sandra Hutchens is dead wrong for Orange County, California. Trying to hang on to her job will not avoid the inevitable. Orange County’s Conservative voters that never voted for the appointed Sheriff in the first place will oust her at first opportunity.