California Sheriff Under Investigation For ‘Pay To Play’ Concealed Carry Permits

By Cam Edwards

AP Photo/Paul Sakuma

Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith is now facing an investigation into whether her office has been issuing concealed carry licenses in exchange for campaign donations, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Prosecutors in Santa Clara County have served at least three search warrants while investigating whether Sheriff Laurie Smith’s office gave out coveted concealed-gun permits in exchange for campaign money, sources familiar with the investigation told The Chronicle.

The Santa Clara County district attorney’s office raided the sheriff’s San Jose headquarters Aug. 2, seizing evidence through a search warrant that remains sealed. About a week before that, sources said, prosecutors served search warrants on two of the sheriff’s higher-ranking supervisors.

The Bay-area county is home to nearly 2-million residents, but only 113 of them have concealed carry licenses, according to the California Department of Justice. Self-defense isn’t seen as a good enough reason to obtain a license from Sheriff Smith’s office, but the allegations are that campaign donations are seen as “good cause” in Santa Clara.

But sources confirmed that the investigation involves an alleged “quid pro quo” between donors to six-term Sheriff Laurie Smith’s election efforts and people who have obtained concealed-carry …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms