New Bill To Require Parents To Report Gun Ownership To Schools
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Parents may soon be required to disclose their firearm ownership to their children's school as part of a newly proposed bill aimed at protecting against acts of violence in schools.
"What the bill says is, when you register your kid for school, you have to notify the school that there's a gun in your house and whether it's adequately safely stored and whether your child has access to the gun, said La Cañada Flintridge State Senator Anthony Portantino, the author of the bill.
The proposed bill will require parents to inform their children's schools about any firearms in the home and mandate searches of backpacks and lockers once a threat of violence against a school is deemed credible.
The bill comes as a response to a deadly school shooting in Michigan last year, where 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley is accused of killing four classmates and wounding seven others. His parents have been charged in the case for allegedly giving him easy access to guns.
While the bill will mandate searches of students' property once a threat is deemed credible, Portantino said that it will not grant law enforcement the right to search homes.
"It doesn't search the home at all," he said. "It allows the search of property on campus, which school districts are already allowed to do. This just mandates them to do it when there is a credible threat."
Some residents find the new bill a reasonable measure to protect children and schools.
"If you have a gun, you should be ok saying that you have a gun," said Burbank resident Corinne Miranda. "People should be OK knowing you have a gun and that your kid could possibly bring it to school if it's not properly locked up."
However, Gun rights activists like Jonothan Solomon, co-owner of Redstone Firearms in Burbank, said that the legislation is a violation of privacy.
"Overreach is an understatement," he said. "Having worked in law enforcement previously and worked for two different school police departments before, I understand the rationale in trying to protect schools and protecting children at school but we are now infringing upon the second amendment right of those parents that may have firearms at home that are responsible gun owners."
Loyola Law Professor Jessica Levinson said that the bill will likely be challenged on multiple grounds.
"There are challenges with respect to privacy rights," she said. "You have to fill out a form that says I have a gun and here's how it's stored. There will be questions about enforcement. What if you don't fill out that form? Will we say you can't send your kid to school?"
Democrats hope to have the bill passed sometime within the next year.