lonelyjew wrote in post #9099372
He's the kind of guy who does the shooting and beating usually. He's a big guy who can handle himself and he is a very pro gun guy who owns plenty of firepower. He's also, as I said, a bit crazy. It really is a bad combination.
That's the kind of guy who would quickly lose his rights to gun ownership by becoming a felon in my state. Taking someone's camera like that is called robbery, which is a felony. In the process he'd probably get shot too. There are more people than you think that legally carry concealed in CA. 
I had a photography professor that took a lot of street scene shots and on very few occasions he would ask permission. He carried a small medium format film camera so it wasn't very noticeable by people. Sometimes he'd approach them after and offer prints if they wanted. He did this through some of the worst parts of LA County too.
I noticed that Gilden guy did a "drive-by" when shooting. He takes the picture and keeps on walking in most instances. He was long gone before the person knew what happened.
I don't normally shoot people, but it would depend on the location I think. When I was in Vegas for New Years 2000 I took a lot of people pics and never asked permission. But the few times I have taken a picture and asked it is when someone was doing something - e.g., jumping off a waterfall, skating, surfing, etc. and they are always happy to say yes. Like other people have said, they will ham it up.
I generally just say something like, "Hey do you mind if I take some pictures of you doing ....?" If they hesitate, I include, "I can email you copies if you want." People always want pictures of themselves doing stuff when they don't have anyone around to take them. 
