Schwarzenegger Vetoes Pioneering Kirpan Bill
India-West, Posted: Oct 21, 2009
SACRAMENTO -- Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger termed “unnecessary” a bill mandating kirpan training for all state law enforcement officers and vetoed the measure Oct. 11, amidst a flurry of bill signing.
AB 504, authored by assembly member Warren Furutani, D-Long Beach — the first bill of its kind in the nation — would have required the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to create a teaching component on kirpans, the small swords Sikh men are required to carry as an article of faith. Anyone entitled to making an arrest in California would have had to undergo the training.
“This measure is unnecessary,” said Schwarzenegger in a statement accompanying the veto. “It is the policy and practice of the Commission to periodically review and update existing course curricula.”
The Sikh Coalition, an advocacy group, is upset over the governor's action. Since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, there have been innumerable attacks on Sikhs.
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