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LA County Supervisors advance gun regulations

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The board of Supervisors also called for the development of an ordinance that would require a 1,000-foot buffer zone between gun stores and “child- sensitive areas” such as schools.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday, Feb. 7, on new laws to regulate sales and possession of guns in unincorporated areas, including Quartz Hill, Littlerock and Lake Los Angeles.

“We know that blame for the gun violence epidemic lies with the failure of congressional leaders to pass even the most basic federal gun laws,” board Chair Janice Hahn said in a statement following the vote. “Because they have not acted, we have found actions we can take at the county level to protect lives.”

The motions that went before the board Tuesday were brought by Hahn and Supervisors Hilda Solis and Lindsey Horvath. Hahn recalled that when she was a congresswoman, the Republican House majority refused to consider such laws even in the face of repeated mass slayings.

“But now we have found actions we can take at the county level to save lives,” she said.

The first of the measures forbids the sale of .50-caliber handguns and ammunition. Hahn noted that such weaponry is intended for combat use. They are for “tearing apart human flesh. They have no use among civilians,” Hahn said. Another ordinance approved by the board Tuesday bans, with the exception of law-enforcement officers and military personnel, the carrying  of guns at county facilities such as ball fields and parks.

The board on Tuesday also called for the development of an ordinance that would require a 1,000-foot buffer zone between gun stores and “child- sensitive areas” such as schools. It also called for an ordinance that would require gun vendors to keep a ledger of local gun sales along with fingerprints of purchasers and that all privately owned firearms be kept under lock and key. An attorney for the county advised the board there were some doubts about the feasibility of the lock-and-key requirement, noting recent federal court rulings relating to firearms. Hahn asked for further research on the matter.

But the board also called for development of other restrictions relating to gun sales, such as requiring stores to display warning signs about the risks of having firearms in the home, including “unintentional deaths” of children. Another would require gun owners to carry liability insurance.

Steven Lamb, an LA County gun owner, blasted the measures, saying they water down the primary purpose of owning a gun, “which is to protect you.” Lamb said forcing of the lockup of guns “would interfere with the guns’ intended purpose of self defense.” The board also voted to support the bid by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, to reestablish the expired 10-year national assault rifle ban and to forbid the sale of such firearms and high capacity magazines to those under 21.

Sam Paredes, executive director of the California Gunowners’ Association, said he was skeptical the Feinstein measure would pass. “Ms. Feinstein has been in the Senate for a long time,” he said. “She keeps resubmitting the same measure every session. I don’t think it will pass the Senate. It certainly won’t make it through the House.”

The board of Supervisors also directed its lobbyists in Sacramento to support proposed state legislation that would tighten rules for carrying concealed weapons and require firearms dealers to undergo annual training. One of the motions that went before the board Tuesday argued that firearms are the leading cause of death among children and teens in the United States. It also noted the Jan. 21 slaying of 11 people in a shooting at a Monterey Park dance studio, the deadliest mass shooting in county history.

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20 comments for "LA County Supervisors advance gun regulations"

  1. That gun in your night stand or rifle in your closet might bring you a sense of security but statistically that firearm is 6 times more likely to cause you or a member of your household grief than it will an intruder.

    • That gun in my gun safe is 100 percent more likely to be used on an intruder than on a member of my household. Gun safety training is important, as are safety devices and safes.

      Feel free not to keep a gun in your home. It is your right, as it is my right to keep one in mine. I exercise my right and I feel no remorse for an intruder who dares to invade my space and bring harm to my loved ones.

      • What is it that has you respond this way to a comment that apparently was not about you at all? If every gun owner was like you the statistics cited would not be what they are, but very clearly you are not typical. The gun in the nightstand drawer or closet is far more common than your proper storage, which frankly is more of a problem for you than it is for me or (most likely) the poster you responded to.

        See, I don’t care if the reckless gun owner manages to get themselves or a family member shot. I got temporarily banned from a forum one time for posting jokes about the woman that got blown away in a WalMart when her toddler in the cart took her gun from her purse, which was also in the cart. My kids are grown so I don’t worry about them going to a friend’s house where some paranoid parent keeps a gun under the couch cushions ‘just in case.’ All the unbelievable paranoia driven stupidity makes no difference to me.

        But it reflects badly on responsible gun owners like you. And it is probably just a matter of time before regulatory actions made necessary by the armed imbeciles impact people like you; unfairly enough.

  2. They already have background checks and your finger print…umm so huh? Also Diane Feinstein didn’t even know that magazines were permanent fixtures (reusable) on guns , thought they were disposable and tried to ban magazines. Anyone remember that one? The ones who attempt the laws have security details with guns protecting them, we do not get the same elitist protection.

  3. Just more fluff gun laws so they can say they did something. .50 caliber handguns aren’t common and aren’t used in many, if any crimes at all. They and the ammo are just too expensive for the common criminal. The whole designed to tear flesh comment is hilarious. 9mm and .45 pistols are designed for the same thing and are the most commonly used pistols in the military.

    The state already has safe storage laws so let’s add more?

    Gun liability insurance? So put the burden on law abiding citizens because of criminal activity?

    A ledger of fingerprints and gun sales is basically a registry. The ATF already has all that information.

    More laws that effect law abiding citizens that do nothing about criminal activity. Maybe one day the absurdity of that will sink in

  4. “We know that blame for the gun violence epidemic lies with the failure of congressional leaders to pass even the most basic federal gun laws,”

    Janice Hahn you are wrong. The blame for gun violence epidemic lies with with poor parenting as does the blame for all other crime and violence.

  5. It’s time AV separates as our own County from the Madness Crazies of LA! “Will not be infringed” The only person you can trust with your last breath is U ~ Not Government!

  7. The concluding sentence of our Second Amendment reads: “… the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

    It does NOT include the caveat “subject to local ordinances and proper registration”

    • Typically, you left out the first words of the Second Amendment. The very first words.

      Repeat after me, Allen.

      “A well-regulated militia,”
      Wouldn’t “well-regulated” include local ordinances and registration if the Supreme Court was honest?

      Of course, that’s questionable the last few years. You must know how corrupt and dishonest the Republican Court has become. By now.

      • There was no Supreme court when the second amendment was written. People owned their own arms in the time when our military was the militia. Guns were necessary to ensure the security of a free state, guns owned by people not bought and paid for by the government.

        • It’s not 1776 Frank Rizzo.

          Who is responsible for the extraordinary gun violence in this country?

          The NRA and gun manufacturers who need to sell guns everyday even though there are more guns than people in this country.

          The Republican Party bought and paid for by the gun lobby.

          Voters who vote for guns, guns, GUNS, whenever they can.

          It’s too late now. We will have gun deaths every day and mass shooting almost as often.

          GET USED TO IT. You’ve made it impossible to stop the violence. Happy?

          Those ammosexuals who think they need a gun to protect them in a theater or store should do a better job of it. Recently, unarmed men fought off or disarmed mass shooters not the concealed carry heroes of your dreams. One was a guest at the SOTU last night.

      • Repeat after me William…
        The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”
        There is nothing stating that the right of the people to keep and bear arms, includes they belong to a “well regulated militia” and abide by those rules. Once again its the left interperting the Constitution to fit their need. Seems most of you lefties prefer the Soviet Socialist Constitution where government controls all.

        • So, Anti-Socialist.

          Just so we know where you stand. Did Trump win the popular vote in 2016 like he said and the elcetion in 2020? Or was it stolen?

        • Are you ready to keep your government required monthly training, as was a minimal requirement for all male adult citizens in the days of the signing of the Constitution?

      • Well, let’s look at the whole thing:

        “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

        Now, notice the commas and their function:
        Comma: a punctuation mark (,) indicating a pause between parts of a sentence. It is also used to separate items in a list and to mark the place of thousands in a large numeral.

        The Second Amendment wasn’t written to protect JUST a “Well-regulated Militia.”

        Just as the First Amendment wasn’t written to project just your right of speech:

        “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”