Kirpan Education Bill Passes California Assembly
Tuesday June 9, 2009
The Sikh Coalition has announced that Kirpan Legislation (AB 504) introduced by Warren T. Furutani (D-Long Beach) passed the California Assembly, in a vote of 76 - 0, on June 2, 2009, and will move on to the California State Senate. The Kirpan Education Bill would require training for law enforcement officers on how to recognize and interact with persons carrying a kirpan.
Comments
This is a good thing to see indeed. It’s unfortunate that so many law enforcement personnel are uneducated about religious beliefs that are anything other than The Big Three. We’ve recently talked over on Pagan/Wiccan about how police are quick to point fingers at Pagans any time an animal turns up harmed — a little bit of education would go such a long way.
Anyhow, I’m glad to see that the Kirpan Legislation is out there, and hope it will help prevent some of the misunderstandings that we often see when police interact with the Sikh community.
patti
Thanks, Patti!
I love to hear from other minority communities; it’s really cool. I have known quite a few Wiccans, none of whom could I imagine hurting an animal.
And it might interest you to know that there is at least one religious talk forum online that considers Sikhs to be Pagan! (I don’t remember the name; I only visited a couple of times years ago.)