Attorney: Calif. CCW school ban removes 'last line of defense'
13th Oct 2015
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) - Starting next year, anyone in California with a concealed weapons permit will not be allowed to have their gun on a school campus.
Gov. Jerry Brown signed SB 707 into law on Friday.
Under the law, carrying a gun on campus would be considered a felony.
“Basically, it has turned people into criminals,” said Daniel Rodriguez, a local attorney. “By definition, if you hold a concealed weapons permit, you have no record. No criminal record. ... Is that really the kind of people we want sent to prison?”
Rodriguez is handling a case similar to this. One of his clients was arrested for having a gun on campus at Tevis Jr. High last year.
Police admitted they made a mistake when they found out he had a CCW permit.
“We want them on campus, because they may very well be our last line of defense,” said Rodriguez.
On campuses across Kern County, there are a lot of faculty members who agree. They said the law is a death sentence.
At California State University, Bakersfield, officials say they have an “informal policy” that already discourages faculty from carrying a gun on campus, but they haven’t really had a way to enforce it.
Craig Powers, a firearms instructor, said a lot of those teachers are still doing it for their students’ safety, because he’s taught so many of them.
“I know that's the case at CSUB and Bakersfield College,” he said.
Gun rights groups have already threatened to take this to the Supreme Court, because they say it’s a violation of the second amendment.
Rodriguez said that could be a very long and messy legal process.
“That'll probably take at least three years,” he said.
The bill was written by Sen. Lois Wolk, a Democrat in Northern California.
Eyewitness News has been in contact with her office, but so far she has still not agreed to do an interview.