Campus gun-ban bill wins approval

Measure that would strip ability to carry weapons at schools heads to Brown.

SACRAMENTO —A measure that would expand a firearms ban on school campuses in California won final legislative approval Monday and was sent to Gov. Jerry Brown, a rifle owner who has been skeptical about some gun control measures.

The measure approved by the state Assembly on Monday eliminates the power of school district administrators to give people with concealed weapon permits permission to have firearms on K-12 campuses.

Assemblyman Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento) said the state’s gun-freezone law was amended two years ago to allow superintendents to authorize guns to be carried on campuses in rare situations, including when someone is the victim of domestic violence.

“The risk of having something bad happen with that firearm is greater than the reward,” McCarty said.

The bill is opposed by gun rights groups, including the National Rifle Assn., as well as most Republican lawmakers.

“You are not keeping people safe by doing this,” said Assemblyman James Gallagher (R-Yuba City). “You are taking away people’s rights and you are taking away people’s ability to defend themselves.”

A separate gun control bill also on its way to the governor’s desk won a unanimous vote in the Assembly. The measure by Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles) added two hate crimes involving use of force to intimidate people based on race, gender or sexual orientation to the list of misdemeanors that result in a ban on the right to have a firearm for 10 years.