California Senator Announces Bill to Limit Open-Carry Guns at Polling Places Nationwide

California’s senior senator on Wednesday announced proposed federal legislation that would limit people’s ability to bring visible firearms to locations where voting occurs or where election workers do their jobs, coming amid rising concerns about political violence and dangerous rhetoric as the 2024 election approaches.

Sen. Alex Padilla is joining Rep. Chris Deluzio (D–Pa.) in introducing the Freedom from Intimidation in Elections Act, which they said aims to protect voters and election workers from threats and intimidation at polling places.

“Today we’re saying something simple: In no place in America should a fear of violence prevent somebody from being able to cast their vote,” Padilla said during a press conference on Capitol Hill. “And no election worker should have to fear for their safety or for their life in helping us administer the fundamental process of democracy that we call elections.”

Twelve states, including California — as well as Washington, D.C. — already prohibit firearms at polling places, and nine additional states have limited restrictions on guns that apply to these sites.

Roughly 40% of election workers have reported experiencing threats, harassment or some other type of abuse, according to Padilla, who served as California’s chief elections officer before joining the Senate in 2021. He said that even after a “long, dark history” of voter suppression and intimidation in the U.S., there has been a “well-documented rise” in threats on election workers recently.

“In this day and age, there’s individuals out there stoked by partisan rhetoric and false narratives about election fraud that have taken it upon themselves to either discourage at a minimum or sometimes outright intimidate people into not letting their voices be heard in the democratic process,” he said.

Political violence has been on the rise in recent years — during the press conference, Deluzio referenced the insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, and in recent months, there have been two presumed assassination attempts on former President Donald Trump, one of which took place at a campaign rally.

Elections officials have also been targeted. Last week, a “suspicious package” was received by the California secretary of state’s Sacramento headquarters, part of what seems to be a “recent trend of suspicious mail sent to election offices” in at least 15 states, according to the office.

Padilla and Deluzio’s announcement comes a day after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed expanded election safety legislation in California, making it illegal for people to intimidate, threaten or coerce anyone engaged in election-related activities or attempt to do so.

Padilla said protections for voters and election workers should be in place nationwide.

“We need to lower the temperature on political rhetoric and make sure that all Americans feel safe enough to participate in our democracy by eliminating the fears of violence from election centers. We will be doing exactly that,” he said.