California has some of the worst gun laws in the nation, but that doesn’t mean that they’re popular in every part of the state. Outside of the more populous coastal counties, there are lots of locales where the right to keep and bear arms is seen as the fundamental right that it is, and even in the “may issue” days many places, like Fresno County, treated the concealed carry licensing process as “shall issue.”
Now Fresno County is looking to expand who can carry; specifically, which city employees should be able to bear arms when they’re on the clock, and where they can lawfully do so.
The Fresno County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to move the proposal forward to a second hearing. If approved, the change would expand authorization to carry weapons such as guns, tasers and pepper spray to the county administrative officer, county counsel and animal control employees.
Since 2020, county supervisors and their assistants have been granted access under the existing policy.
Supervisor Garry Bredefeld supported the proposal, citing concerns about public officials’ safety.
“Unfortunately, we live in a time when people in public life have to protect themselves,” Bredefeld said.
Honestly, if the elected officials and their assistants are already able to carry on county government property, I think every employee should be able to do the same. I don’t like one set of rules for politicians and another for the rest of us.
Fresno County’s proposed policy wouldn’t go that far, but as written it’s still too much for some residents who voiced their opposition to the plan.
Fresno resident Brianna Walker questioned the need for county employees to carry weapons while at work.
“I cannot imagine a situation in which Garry Bredefeld would need to shoot, taser or pepper spray a constituent, and I would hope that if the worst thing were to happen and there were to be a violent threat at a supervisor’s meeting, he would have the grace, dignity, and intelligence to let law enforcement handle it,” Walker said.
And what happens if the threat doesn’t take place during a supervisor’s meeting, where law enforcement is generally present? What if the threat presents itself while the county administrator or another employee is walking to their car at the end of their day? Or, even worse, what if the person who poses a threat is able to shoot or stab their way past armed security and into unsecured parts of the county administration building?
My issue is that average employees are also at risk of being robbed or assaulted on their way in and out of the workplace, and if an active assailant decides to target the building then they too could easily become victims.
Allowing animal control employees to carry on the job is a no-brainer, and I’m honestly shocked that they’re currently unable to do so. But if Fresno County is going to expand the universe of employees who can bear arms for self-defense while on the clock, I don’t think they should leave anyone behind. Allowing every counter worker access to their Second Amendment rights is the fair and just move, and I hope that county supervisors will make that change to their proposal before they cast their final vote in the weeks ahead.
Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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