In the last few months students from college campuses in Oregon, Texas, and Arizona were victims of school shootings.
As an aim to prevent future incidents in California, Gov. Jerry Brown passed bill SB 707 that bans anyone from carrying a concealed weapon onto a California school campus.
Amy Luna, Fresno State Police Department Spokeswoman, said officers will be enforcing this law for everyone on campus and have had no previous issues with anyone concerning the carrying of a concealed weapon.
“Safety at Fresno State is consistently made a priority by the administration. The Fresno State Police Department continues to be proactive in policing by addressing issues before they become an incident,” Luna said.
One of Fresno State’s Gun Club members, Mark Yoshimoto, said he’s pro-gun.
“If you’re a law-abiding citizen and you want one, you should technically have one,” Yoshimoto said. “It’s not like I’m going to go commit a crime with it. I have it to protect myself.”
Yoshimoto said, he believes the ban won’t be beneficial at all for California campuses.
“Gun-free zones make easy targets for criminals, since they know that everyone is unarmed. Other states, such as Utah, are training teachers with firearms to protect themselves and their students.”
The Fresno State senior said he has a permit for a concealed-carry weapon. He said he carries it everywhere with him, except school. Rather than feeling in danger, Yoshimoto said he feels a sense of security.
“If anything does happen, at least it’s there. It’s pretty much the last thing you could do. My last resort,” Yoshimoto said.
Yoshimoto also added he believes the ban of carrying concealed weapons onto campuses won’t make the campus any safer.
“If it’s not going to be a gun, it’s going to be a knife or it’s going to be a bomb, or it’s going to be something far worse,” Yoshimoto said.
Another member of Fresno State’s Gun Club, Yordan Coss said he would encourage students to learn about guns and get a permit to have one, but added. Although, he believes it’s not for everyone.
“It’s not something to be taken lightly,” Coss said. “It’s a heavy responsibility. You definitely have to have the mindset for it. You have to be responsible. I don’t think everybody should carry it, but if you do have that mind-set and you do feel you have the need to protect yourself, then absolutely.”
Dr. Kurt Cline, chairman for the political science department, said he personally wants to stay neutral on the issue of having guns on campus.
“It’s an interesting issue and it’s a really sensitive one. So that’s why I try not to get on either side of it at this point,” Cline said.
Even though Cline is neutral he said he can see the good that can come out from passing the bill into legislation.
“I do, as somebody who is on a campus quite a bit, like the idea that that’s not something we should want to have or you need to have on campus. I like to think that the campus is a special place where you don’t need to have that,” Cline said.
From a political standpoint Cline said, there are many things besides the ban that can be done to help prevent more mass shootings.
“It just depends on what the political will is. It’s a hotly contested debate about access to guns and how many guns you have in the United States. We have a particular view in the United States about guns and a view about the Second Amendment that doesn’t translate to other countries. And so a lot of other countries have less gun violence because they have less guns. And so you get into a really sticky situation.”
“I think it’s a step in the right direction from a campus safety standpoint.”
Jon • Oct 30, 2015 at 1:16 pm
This law is great, now people planning to commit murder will know its a crime if they bring a gun onto a campus.