A Sikh farmer holds a kirpan – a blade carried by members of his faith as a part of a religious commandment – a few years ago in the northern Indian state of Punjab. A new Sacramento ordinance allows the items inside City Hall.
MONEY SHARMA
AFP via Getty Images
Members of the Sikh community may carry a religious blade — a key item of their faith — in Sacramento City Hall after the council approved Tuesday a change to the city’s code.
The religious article, called a kirpan, cannot be longer than 10 inches and must be contained in a sheath to wear in City Hall, according to the ordinance. The kirpan is one of five items that some initiated Sikh followers keep as a formal recognition of their religion. Not every practicing Sikh carries the item.
Other municipalities adopted policies allowing kirpan inside public chambers. Fresno has allowed the faith item since 2020. The city has experienced no incidents or safety concerns, according to an October letter from Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Angel Arias. The state Capitol also allows kirpans inside.
“What we are not seeking is a special privilege,” said Jasjit Singh, the legal director for the Jakara Movement. “What we’re seeking today is equality, as afforded by the laws of this country, so that we can practice our faith freely as each one of you do.”
Singh, who is also a Sacramento City Unified School District trustee, said there have been community members who cannot enter Sacramento’s council chambers while expressing their faith because they cannot wear a kirpan. That precludes Sikh members from participating in local democracy, said Mandeep Singh, the regional director of the Jakara Movement, a nonprofit for young Sikhs to advocate for their religion.
Sacramento’s municipal law previously outlawed “dangerous and deadly weapons.” But several court cases have ruled a kirpan is not a weapon and instead an article of faith protected by the First Amendment and other laws, according to the Sikh Coalition, a national advocacy organization.
Councilmember Caity Maple, who spearheaded changing the city’s code, hoped the ordinance opened the doors for every person. She added it took about two years to get an ordinance passed, and apologized for the lengthy process.
“We often say this is the people’s house, because it is,” Maple said in an interview. “It’s not mine. It’s the public’s. But we can’t really mean that unless everybody can access it.”
This story was originally published March 10, 2026 at 4:38 PM.
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Ishani Desai is a government watchdog reporter for The Sacramento Bee. She previously covered crime and courts for The Bakersfield Californian.