California bans school employees from carrying concealed firearms to work

California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed a bill over the weekend preventing public school employees from carrying firearms on school property.

What does this mean?

The new bill overturned the right for school district superintendents to allow certain employees — on a case-by-case basis — to carry concealed weapons on school grounds.

School district superintendents were granted permission of jurisdiction in permitting certain employees to carry firearms in 2016.

When will this take effect?

The measure, AB 424, will go into effect Jan. 1.

What are people saying about this?

Assemblyman Kevin McCarty (D), who wrote the bill, told the Los Angeles Times that school safety is "not possible if a school district allows armed civilians to roam California school campuses."

McCarty said that allowing firearms on school grounds increases the chance of school shootings. However, the Firearms Policy Coalition disagreed with the bill and said in a statement that the policy is confusing:

In one case they say that local control is the only way to keep people safe, and here they kill off what little local control was left on this issue. The Legislature and Governor Brown have made sure that no good people with guns will be close enough to stop an evil or insane person in the event of a serious attack.

The Coalition also said that "the constitutional right to bear arms is based on the fundamental human right to self-defense. AB 424 undermines these very important principles based on little more than a whim."