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Kirpan Education Bill Passes
Full Assembly Vote
WSN Network
 Sacramento:
In a major morale booster for the Sikh community in its struggle to
quell attacks on its unique identity, the entire California State
Assembly on Tuesday passed law enabling training of all law
enforcement personnel about Sikhs and kirpans.
The bill now
goes on for a vote by the California State Senate, and then to the
Governor Schwarzenegger’s Desk to hopefully be signed into law.
Tuesday's
Assembly vote was cleared with most impressive 59-0 vote as no one
opposed the progressive legislation. Extensive lobbying efforts led
by the Sikh Coalition and local sangat members resulted in
bipartisan support of this legislation.
Should it become
law, it will be the first statutory piece specifically pertaining to
the kirpan in the United States. The American Sikh community have
hailed California State Assembly, and Assembly member Warren
Furutani for their hard work and pioneering spirit in passing this
bill.
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"It is the Legislature's goal to promote education and awareness
of the carrying of the kirpan by Sikhs in California. |
The proposed law
(AB 504) would create and include training about the kirpan in the
state curriculum for law enforcement officer training. The bill
states explicitly, "It is the Legislature's goal to promote
education and awareness of the carrying of the kirpan by Sikhs in
California."
The training would advise officers about "how to recognize and
interact with persons carrying a kirpan."
Kirpan carrying
Sikhs often faced hurdles because of poor dissemination of
information about their religious code that mandates a baptised Sikh
to carry his sword. Sikhs frequently found themselves charged with
violating state or local concealed weapons laws. Immense amount of
tax payers' money and Sikhs' energy was getting dissipated without
much reason.
The bill was
introduced by Assemblymember Warren Furutani (D-Long Beach) in
February 2009. Since then, Furutani and his staff have worked
tirelessly with the Sikh community to ensure that the bill is a
priority for the legislature and for the California Asian Pacific
Legislative Caucus. Under his guidance, the bill passed unanimously
through both the Public Safety Committee and the Appropriations
Committee of the State Assembly.
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June 2009
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