Today, Senate Minority Leader Brian W. Jones (R-San Diego) called out Senate Democrats on the Senate Floor for their failure to care about public safety as it relates to gun violence and fentanyl. Jones’s comments were in opposition to Senate Bill 2, which infringes on the Second Amendment rights of legal Carry Concealed Weapons (CCW) permit holders.
You can watch Leader Jones’s comments here.
“Senate Democrats claim there is a ‘gun addiction’ in California…are you kidding me?,” said Leader Jones. “Let’s talk about a fentanyl addiction in California and the Senate Democrats’ refusal to do anything about it. They proclaim self-righteousness about their unconstitutional gun control measures, but won’t do a damn thing about fentanyl control. Their lack of care for public safety is insulting to the thousands of Californians dying on our streets from drug addiction and gun violence.”
Senate Bill 2 (Portantino, D-Pasadena) makes it even more difficult to obtain a CCW permit in California by increasing fees and adding more bureaucratic red tape to the already cumbersome application process. CCW permit holders in California currently undergo some of the most stringent application and government approval processes in the nation to obtain their permit to legally carry a firearm, a Constitutional right under the Second Amendment.
SB 2 is most likely unconstitutional as it bans legal CCW permit holders from carrying their firearm in 26 types of locations including schools, legislative buildings or parking areas, courts or court parking areas, buses, trains, hospitals, medical offices, nursing homes, urgent care facilities, any buildings or parking areas of that building where alcohol is sold regardless of whether the holder is drinking, playgrounds, youth centers, athletic facilities, stadiums, libraries, airports, religious buildings unless posted, and amusement parks. The bill goes a step further and also prohibits CCW permits holders from carrying firearms in any commercial establishment unless allowance is publicly posted.
SB 2 passed off of the Senate Floor on a 29-9 vote with bipartisan opposition. Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil (D-Jackson) joined the entire California Senate Republican Caucus in opposing the measure while Senators Richard Roth (D-Riverside) and Melissa Hurtado (D-Bakersfield) did not vote. All other Senate Democrats supported the measure. SB 2 now heads to the Assembly for consideration.