Let there be no confusion: guns have no place in Campbell. The city decided as much recently upon agreeing to update a number of policies that outline the rules for using its rental facilities, such as the Ainsley House.

According to Campbell City Clerk Wendy Wood, the City Council’s decision at its meeting on Feb. 20 gives Campbell Recreation and Community Services Director Regina Maurantonio the green light to update the policies for several of the city’s rental facilities. The policies will be updated to reflect a ban not only on guns, but also weapons and open flames, such as candles.

“It’s part of our municipal code,” said Wood. “(They are) prohibited, but it wasn’t stated in our policies, so if somebody were to ask to look at the picnic reservation policy, it doesn’t specify they’re prohibited. We just wanted to make sure our policies were consistent with our municipal code.”

The Campbell municipal code makes several references to the prohibition of firearms and weapons. They’re banned in parks and at City Hall, as well as at schools and post offices. According to Campbell Police Capt. Gary Berg, discharge of any kind of firearms including air guns and spring guns in public is also against the law.

Among the policies that will be updated in the near future to reflect the ban are those affecting the downtown special event, Campbell Historical Museum, Ainsley House, picnic reservations, building use, and parks and athletic fields.

Maurantonio emphasized that the decision to make the updates wasn’t necessarily prompted by a resident’s inquiry or by recent national events such as the Feb. 14 mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida as much as it was driven by an intention to bring uniformity to the various policies. Up until now, the Heritage Theatre is the only venue for which the policy already had the ban in place, according to Maurantonio.

“When people are renting our facilities they don’t necessarily look at our municipal code, so it just makes it clear and easier for everyone to understand,” she said. “It just made sense to be clear.”