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AirTalk

AirTalk for June 16, 2015

LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 07: Workers clean Smith & Wesson .357 magnum revolvers recently rented by customers for target practice at the Los Angeles Gun Club on December 7, 2012 in Los Angeles, California.  Gun enthusiasts rent the the weapon to try out before making a purchase at a gun store . Leading firearms maker Smith & Wesson reports almost 50 percent increase in sales revenue.  (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Workers clean Smith & Wesson .357 magnum revolvers recently rented by customers for target practice at the Los Angeles Gun Club on December 7, 2012 in Los Angeles, California.
(
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
)
Listen 1:35:03
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reviews a San Diego restriction on the right to carry concealed weapons outside the home. Also, the Federal Trade Commission has started to roll out rules regulating the domestic use of drones.What are our privacy rights? Then, the Centers for Disease Control has focused its microscopic sights on the bacteria and contaminants found in public swimming pools.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reviews a San Diego restriction on the right to carry concealed weapons outside the home. Also, the Federal Trade Commission has started to roll out rules regulating the domestic use of drones.What are our privacy rights? Then, the Centers for Disease Control has focused its microscopic sights on the bacteria and contaminants found in public swimming pools.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reviews a San Diego restriction on the right to carry concealed weapons outside the home. Also, the Federal Trade Commission has started to roll out rules regulating the domestic use of drones.What are our privacy rights? Then, the Centers for Disease Control has focused its microscopic sights on the bacteria and contaminants found in public swimming pools.

CA Court of Appeals hears concealed-carry case, gun rights and restrictions at stake

Listen 19:05
CA Court of Appeals hears concealed-carry case, gun rights and restrictions at stake

The right to carry concealed weapons outside the home is under scrutiny today as the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reviews a San Diego restriction on the practice.

In the Golden State, citizens can only carry concealed weapons in public if they have a permit to do so. Permits can only be given to people who complete a training course, demonstrate “good moral character,” and establish “good cause.”

Although state law generally discourages concealed-carry permits, local authorities are allowed to create restrictions around their distribution to regulate the permitting process. The case came forward when a former police officer, Edward Peruta, filed a suit with San Diego County after he was denied a concealed-carry permit when authorities concluded that he did not establish “good cause.”

While the case is unlikely to reach the Supreme Court, gun rights and gun control activists are heatedly debating the issue, each pushing for their version of where the line should lie. A ruling could ostensibly affect concealed-carry permit restrictions throughout the state of California.

What restrictions should be put on concealed-carry permits? Is California’s subsidiarity in the matter appropriate? How will the court’s ruling affect the debate?

Guests:

Mike McLively, staff attorney for the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which has filed several amicus briefs on the defendant's side

Sam Paredes, Executive Director of Gun Owners of California

A look at privacy rights after OC man destroys drone flying over his home

Listen 11:50
A look at privacy rights after OC man destroys drone flying over his home

A Huntington Beach man was captured on video destroying a drone flying on his street earlier this month.

The drone belonged to the startup Lucky 7 Drones, which was shooting an instructional video when the incident occurred. The drone was flying about 2 to 3 feet off the ground when the man in question used a T-shirt to swat it, bringing the $1,300-machine  to the ground.

Incidents like this are likely to multiply, as more and more businesses embrace drone use. The Federal Trade Commission has started to roll out rules regulating the domestic use of drones. What are those regulations? What are our privacy rights?

Guests:

Gregory McNeal, Associate Professor of Law and Associate Professor of Public Policy at Pepperdine University. He is an expert on drones and topics related to privacy and technology

An ode to YOUR favorite car

Listen 16:35
An ode to YOUR favorite car

We Angelenos have a complicated relationship to our cars.

However we feel about driving and being stuck in traffic though, there is probably one car that we have loved – a mechanical and engineering beauty that we either once owned, or want badly to call ours in the future.

What is that car for you? A 1956 Thunderbird Sunset Coral (our guest host Patt Morrison’s dream car)? A DeLorean DMC-12 like the one in “Back to the Future?" Or a jalopy that despite all its weaknesses still holds a special place in your heart?

Call 866-893-5722 and tell us the special car that you love.

Guest:

Earl Swift, journalist and author of “Auto Biography: A Classic Car, an Outlaw Motorhead, and 57 Years of the American Dream” (It Books, 2014)

Proposed LAX digital billboard district raises concerns over traffic, distracted driving

Listen 13:38
Proposed LAX digital billboard district raises concerns over traffic, distracted driving

The Los Angeles City Council is set to vote on a proposal to restrict billboard “visual blight” in neighborhoods like Westchester in return for creating a digital billboard district within LAX.

Residents of Westchester are overjoyed at the prospect but others are concerned about the traffic and distracted driving it will create around the airport. Is this a necessary evil to raise city revenue or an undue burden on travelers? We’ll get the details and debate the proposal.

Guests:

Sharon McNary, KPCC reporter

Dennis Hathaway, President, Coalition to Ban Billboard Blight

Cyndi Hench, President, Neighborhood Council of Westchester / Playa Vista / Playa Del Rey

Busting myths around swimming pool cleanliness

Listen 17:48
Busting myths around swimming pool cleanliness

The Centers for Disease Control has focused its microscopic sights on the bacteria and contaminants found in public swimming pools.

Experts are trying to drown out myths such as chlorine smell being a good thing and another myth that chlorine causes burning, red eyes. In fact, when urine, sweat and dirt combine with chlorine, they amount to odor and irritants, so the presence of a "pool smell" might mean more chlorine needs to be added to break down the contaminants. More worrisome, is a new parasitic germ that is immune to chlorine.

The CDC's Michael J. Beach, Associate Director of the Healthy Water program says, "We've got to keep it out of the pool in the first place. We need additional barriers." The primary cause is swimmers who have or had diarrhea who should not be swimming at all. It also helps if all swimmers shower before getting in the pool.

Where you do you go swimming when you need exercise or a cool dip? How do you mitigate the risks?

CDC: Pool User Information tips

Guest:

Michael J. Beach, PhD, Associate Director for Healthy Water, National Center for Emerging, Zoonotic, and Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control

Former US Marshals on finding and catching a fugitive

Listen 16:05
Former US Marshals on finding and catching a fugitive

As the manhunt for two convicted murderers widens in northern New York State, law enforcement officials are no doubt beginning to wonder if the men have gotten out of town, and maybe even out of the country.

Entering its 10th day today, police continue to search a heavily-wooded area near Plattsburgh, New York, a small city in the northeastern corner of the state just west of the Vermont border. The two men on the run, David Sweat and Richard Matt, broke out of the maximum security Clinton Correctional Facility on June 6th, drawing comparisons by many to the iconic prison-break film “Shawshank Redemption” when it was discovered their escape included sawing through steel plates and pipes, scaling a catwalk, crawling through narrow tunnels, and breaking through a locked and chained manhole cover from within.

As difficult as it has been for police to find Sweat and Matt thus far, the two fugitives face an equally daunting challenge: survive and create as much distance as possible between them and police, all while keeping a low profile. In order to do that, the men will likely need a home base, money, and a few people who will help them keep flying under the radar, and that’s just to get started.

Where do fugitive hunters start with a case like this? What goes into tracking down a dangerous criminal? What are some of the things the fugitives might be considering as they continue their run? How do you gather information on someone who is going out of his or her way not to be found? We’ll speak with two men who have devoted their professional lives to tracking down fugitives and get an exclusive look inside the mind of the hunters and the hunted.

Guests:

Lenny DePaul, Chief Inspector/Commander (Ret.) of U.S. Marshals Service New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force

Craig Caine, Inspector (Ret.) U.S. Marshals Service New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force