Chick Debates Gun Issues With Students
When Los Angeles Councilwoman Laura Chick met with a group of students interested in law and government careers Thursday morning, she didn’t just tell them about the inner workings of government.
Chick engaged the students at Monroe High School’s magnet program in a discussion of topics facing the council’s Public Safety Committee.
One of the topics was issuing guns to the city’s park rangers, who are now armed only with pepper spray and batons. Los Angeles Police Department officials are against the idea, but rangers say they need to be able to protect themselves from park-goers who have guns.
The students at the North Hills school overwhelmingly took the rangers’ side, but Chick also asked them for suggestions for alternatives that would make the parks safer.
Chick then broadened the discussion to include gun control and the right of citizens to carry concealed weapons.
The students said they were surprised to learn that only about 300 civilians in Los Angeles County are licensed to carry such a weapon.
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