I have these Black Panthers up here with guns on the 2nd floor. Is this the way the racist government works? Don’t let *** man, uh, exercise his, his, his constitutional rights. They never gave the party credit for anything. We were the boogeymen. It’s become, um, you know, *** very complicated, interesting area of law. Is it about who has the guns, who has the guns, you know, it’s, it’s plain to see. It’s what we call *** sentinel event. It’s not just that the event happened, it’s that that event was in everybody’s living room. There’s another one in California, and that was the mass shooting at Cleveland School in Stockton. Shortly before 120 Tuesday. *** lone gunman, Patrick Edward Purdy, walked onto the playground at Cleveland Elementary armed with 2 pistols and *** semi-automatic rifle. 18 bullets came through my wall. The whole room turned white. Mass shootings were not *** thing. School shootings were unheard of. I tried to find out where they were where they were hit. I tried to stop the bleeding. Her leg was shattered. All her bones in her leg was shattered, but this year there’s an all-out push by certain lawmakers to ban all semi-automatic military-type weapons. From my cold dead hands. Like this one, the Soviet designed AK-47 assault rifle. There is absolutely no reason why out on the street today *** civilian should be carrying *** loaded weapon. The Constitution says the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. You can turn back in time and you can say right there. It’s where the course of events change.
Watch the trailer for the KCRA 3 documentary “Liberty and Limits: Guns in California”
Our documentary looks at two major California events that have shaped how we talk about and regulate guns in the U.S.
Updated: 10:23 AM PST Jan 11, 2026
On May 2, 1967, the Black Panther Party came to the California State Capitol armed in protest of a bill eliminating open carry in California.On Jan. 17, 1989, Patrick Purdy opened fire on a Stockton schoolyard, killing five children and injuring dozens. The dates of two of Northern California’s biggest historical events may seem unrelated but they both inform a discussion about one thing: guns.The KCRA 3 documentary “Liberty and Limits: Guns in California” looks at how these two events, decades apart, have rippled across time to inform us still today. In 1967, then-Gov. Reagan was on the steps of the California Capitol pushing for gun control. He switched his position in the 1980s. The documentary also shows how the tragic killing of schoolchildren may have helped reduce the death rate in California.”Liberty and Limits: Guns in California” takes a look at the impact on the law and the U.S. Constitution that came as a result of each event. How the Black Panthers were talking about the Second Amendment right to bear arms, leading to a law we’re still debating today: open carry. The first internationally known school shooting, in Stockton, would push lawmakers across the country to reflect on gaps in regulations.Our documentary, airing Sunday, Jan. 18, at 8 p.m. on KCRA 3, explores how these events continue to inform us and the legacy the people involved are leaving for others.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
On May 2, 1967, the Black Panther Party came to the California State Capitol armed in protest of a bill eliminating open carry in California.
On Jan. 17, 1989, Patrick Purdy opened fire on a Stockton schoolyard, killing five children and injuring dozens.
The dates of two of Northern California’s biggest historical events may seem unrelated but they both inform a discussion about one thing: guns.
The KCRA 3 documentary “Liberty and Limits: Guns in California” looks at how these two events, decades apart, have rippled across time to inform us still today. In 1967, then-Gov. Reagan was on the steps of the California Capitol pushing for gun control. He switched his position in the 1980s. The documentary also shows how the tragic killing of schoolchildren may have helped reduce the death rate in California.
“Liberty and Limits: Guns in California” takes a look at the impact on the law and the U.S. Constitution that came as a result of each event. How the Black Panthers were talking about the Second Amendment right to bear arms, leading to a law we’re still debating today: open carry.
The first internationally known school shooting, in Stockton, would push lawmakers across the country to reflect on gaps in regulations.
Our documentary, airing Sunday, Jan. 18, at 8 p.m. on KCRA 3, explores how these events continue to inform us and the legacy the people involved are leaving for others.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel