Reporter

Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation that prohibits the carrying of concealed guns on school and university campuses in California. This goes for guns only; other types of weaponry are still permitted on school campuses.

Just a week after the mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore. last October, Gov. Brown signed legislation that bans the carrying of concealed guns on campus, unless individuals are active duty or retired law enforcement or have been granted permission by school officials.

CSU Bakersfield Campus Police Chief Martin Williamson is aware of this new ban, which prohibits an act that had previously been legal.

“In the past, even though we did not promote carrying weapons even if you had a CCW on campus, it was not unlawful,” Williamson said. A CCW is a concealed weapons permit.

Students and faculty should be aware of this new law, because even if an individual has a valid concealed weapons
permit, carrying a concealed gun on campus is now illegal.

“There shouldn’t be any impact on campus,” Williamson said. “I’ve heard people talk about that it’s their right, and that they feel more secure if they’re walking out to a parking lot at night that they should have the right to carry their weapon if they obtain a permit,” he said.

With the services that campus police offers students and faculty, there is no need to worry if an emergency situation were to arise.

“On this campus, we have so many services in place. Our officers are on duty 24/7. Our response time to priority calls is about 90 seconds to two minutes,” Williamson said. “We provide escort services 24 hours a day, and we have the call boxes throughout the campus,” he said.

Senior Brett Kettler does not think that there is any beneficial reason for someone on campus to carry a concealed weapon without a CCW who has not been granted permission by school officials to do so.

“If a situation were to break out on campus, I would feel much safer knowing people who have been properly trained to handle a firearm and deal with such situations were diffusing the situation, instead of someone with a gun attempting to be a hero” Kettler said.

Christina Henley, another CSUB student, is also comfortable with the new legislation.

“I think making it unlawful to carry concealed weapons on campus is a good thing,” said Henley. “I feel very safe on campus with the services that are already provided to us by campus police.”

Chief Williamson is very comfortable with the services that are already in place on campus in the wake of this new legislation.

“We continue to look at ways to improve the campus, by either adding more staffing or even if we put more community service officers out there for eyes and ears,” Williamson said. “There’s a lot of things that we do.”