Concealed weapons cannot be carried at California college and university campuses, according to a new state law that went into effect on Jan. 1.

According to the law, no one, including faculty, even with a valid license to carry, is allowed to have a gun on campus unless authorized from the LRCCD Police Chief Cheryl Sears. Students and faculty are allowed to have a gun located in the car locked away and not in the glove box.  

Many Cosumnes River College students agreed with the concealed weapons ban and some would like to see the guns removed from campus grounds entirely.

“Nobody for whatever reason should have a gun near campus,” said 19-year-old biology major Kevin Nzenkue.

Nzenkue said that he was happy that guns are not allowed directly on campus at least.

Other students expressed concerns of still permitting guns to be locked in cars on campus.

Alicia Lua, a 24-year-old business student, said that not everyone is going to obey having the gun locked in a safe in their car.

“You never know, because what if they tell someone or someone overhears they have a gun?” Lua said. “Then they can go and steal it.”

Lazaro Perez, 23, a business major, said he doesn’t see the threat to where someone would carry a gun on campus.

“We have security out and the police nearby on campus,” Perez said.

There are some students who disagreed with a weapon ban on campus saying that it is unconstitutional and violates their rights..

“I think it’s important to uphold the second amendment,” said 23-year-old Jeffrey Montane, a behavioral science major.

Montane said he has worked with law enforcement as a security guard and said that police response isn’t always as fast as it needs to be.

“I do respect that the campus wants to ban the weapons but it doesn’t prevent someone from doing it unlawfully,” Montane said.

Not everyone agrees with Montane on the issue.

Courtesy Photo

Faculty and staff said they feel a little safer knowing that it is against state law to carry a gun on campus, however, there are still some safety concerns that some professors have..

“The less there are guns on campus, the better overall, more guns just lead to a bad situation,” said Humanities Professor Kim Codella.

Codella also said that he is still concerned with not being able to lock the doors from the inside “which is a big concern.”

Several professors said that they are confident in the LRCCPD’s ability to neutralize any kind of threat that may appear on campus.

“The campus police have done a good job of being active and being prepared,” Gorman said.