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On Monday, September 26, the Golden State’s Governor, Gavin Newson signed several bills which will alter the sale of firearms for prospective gun owners in California. Among the bills is AB28 which imposes an additional 11% tax on firearms on top of the existing 10% federal tax. AB28’s taxing is a change prospective gun owners will see next summer, on July 1, 2024.
John Gramlich’s article “What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S.” from Pew Research reports that, “following 2021 the US has seen an uptick of gun violence.” While most prevalent in academic environments, some speculate that events such as the recent Crook’s Corner incident (the August 24th shooting in Orange that left six shot) additionally served to motivate Newsom’s support of the bills. The Governor has been known for his habitual refusal to increase taxes “even for causes he supports like combating climate change.” Though off pattern for Newsom, it was an expected move from the Governor as he is currently “in the middle of a national campaign to amend the U.S. Constitution to restrict gun sales to people over 21, require extensive background checks, impose a waiting period for purchases, and ban the sale of assault-style weapons” reports Andrew Beam in his PBS article, “California governor signs law raising taxes on guns and ammunition to pay for school safety”.
The tax double is expected to bring in $159 million in annual revenue. Who is said to benefit? The bill allocates the first 75 million to “the California Violence Intervention and Prevention Grant Program” which has previously “funded projects [that provide aid to] young people in gangs, including sports programs, life coaching…” and more. The “next $50 million would go to the State Department of Education to boost security at public schools” with funds being targeted toward “physical security improvements, safety assessments, after-school programs for at-risk students and mental and behavioral health services for students, teachers and other school employees” reports Beam. Emily Hands, a mental health awareness advocate, member of CdM’s PAL, and a 3-year CdM Speech and Debate team member supports decisions that are working on making guns less accessible to students and believes that there needs to be a, “focus more on student mental health awareness,” because, “a lot of [school shooters] are mentally troubled kids”.
Ten-year Officer Andrew Shen and three-year CdM School Resource Officer confirms that “The [Newport Beach] police department is contracted with the Newport-Mesa School District to provide three school resource officers”’ for the district’s schools. His role in the campus safety team focuses on spreading information about the city and police-regulated drills and policies set in place for school safety. Despite having a corporeal role in campus safety, he also informs that “The bigger picture of it is… to put people in touch with mental health services because a lot of times when we come across people that feel like they have to attack other people, there is some component of mental health.” By performing threat assessments, Officer Shen strives to put high importance on providing people with the right resources while also keeping campus safety at a high priority.
In regards to Newsom’s upcoming modifications for California, Shen assures the main focus is on remaining “responsible for knowing what [he] can enforce and what [he] can’t” which he and his colleagues are thoroughly briefed on but as of yet, no new provisions have been set by the state or the county that would amend or become involved in CdM’s current policies. For now, Shen commends the changes CdM has made to its campus in recent years, noting that the fencing and the key-card controlled locks have improved campus safety.
