COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

Board of Supervisors

DATE:

December 1, 2009

BOARD MEETING DATE:

December 15, 2009

SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:

None

VOTE REQUIRED:

Majority

TO:

Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Supervisor Rose Jacobs Gibson

SUBJECT:

Ordinances Regulating Firearms Dealers and Ammunition Sellers; and Requiring the Reporting of Lost or Stolen Firearms.

RECOMMENDATION:

(1) Adoption of an ordinance adding CHAPTER 3.57 TO TITLE 3 OF THE SAN MATEO COUNTY ORDINANCE CODE, REGULATING FIREARMS DEALERS AND AMMUNITION SELLERS IN THE UNINCORPORATED AREA OF THE COUNTY OF SAN MATEO.

(2) Adoption of an ordinance adding CHAPTER 3.55 TO TITLE 3 OF THE SAN MATEO COUNTY ORDINANCE CODE, REQUIRING THE REPORTING OF LOST OR STOLEN FIREARMS

BACKGROUND:

Youth gun possession and violence have reached epidemic proportions in our local communities and throughout the Bay Area. As President of The Association of Bay Area Governments’ (ABAG), I expanded ABAG’s definition of what it means to create sustainable, healthy communities. Along with environmentally sustainable design and economic development, public safety is a key ingredient in building communities where residents, particularly young people, can grow and succeed. With the health of our communities in mind, I initiated ABAG’s Youth Gun Violence Task Force to develop common sense approaches to keeping guns out of the hands of young people.

The Task Force has focused on a series of model resolutions and model ordinances recommended by the Legal Community Against Violence (LCAV). Task Force members have met with law enforcement to receive feedback on the model ordinances and resolutions, and I have received positive feedback from law enforcement officials throughout San Mateo County.

Specifically, I met with the District Attorney and the Sheriff to discuss the ordinances and resolutions. Additionally, I received written responses from an officer in the Gang Intelligence Unit and our Chief Probation Officer. I met with Ronald Davis, East Palo Alto’s Police Chief, and Chief Davis arranged for me to present the ordinances and resolutions at the San Mateo County Police Chief’s Association County Wide Issues Committee meeting. At this meeting, I was able to speak with over forty law enforcement officers about our Task Force and the ordinances and resolutions.

On June 18, 2009, the Task Force convened a meeting of organizations and interest groups concerned about youth gun possession and violence. Approximately 50 individuals representing youth organizations, probation, police, physicians, education and other stakeholder organizations and staff participated in the half-day session that was met with overwhelming support and enthusiasm. The clear outcome was to support the passage of a slate of model resolutions and ordinances in local government agencies throughout the Bay Area to reduce youth gun possession and violence.

On September 17, 2009, the ABAG Executive Board approved the slate of model resolutions and ordinances, and urged member jurisdictions to do the same. This Board adopted the ABAG/LCAV model resolutions on November 10, 2009. On November 24^th, the Legislative Committee recommended these ordinances for adoption.

DISCUSSION:

I urge the Board to adopt the following ordinances in order to minimize the risks caused by handguns, to reduce the risks created when adults illegally transfer guns to minors, and to make our community a safer place to live.

From 1999 to 2006, over thirty thousand children and young people under the age of twenty-one died from gunshot wounds in the United States. From 1991 through 2007, gunshot wounds killed 113 San Mateo County residents under the age of twenty-one. These sobering statistics impact everyone in our community, and create negative outcomes like post-traumatic stress disorder, public health challenges, and neighborhood deterioration. All too often, youth who are not old enough to legally purchase a firearm are the perpetrators. Tragically, adults are sometimes responsible for providing the young persons with illegal guns. The model ordinances are an effort to address youth gun possession and violence.

Ordinance regulating firearms dealers and ammunition sellers. Federal and state regulation of firearms dealers and ammunition sellers is currently inadequate to protect public safety. The ordinance would apply to any person in the unincorporated area of the County who engages in the business of “selling, leasing or transferring of any firearm, firearm component, or ammunition, or to hold one’s self out as engaged in the business of selling, leasing or otherwise transferring any firearm, firearm component, or ammunition, or to sell, lease or transfer firearms, firearm components, or ammunition in quantity, in series, or in individual transactions, or in any other manner indicative of trade.” The ordinance requires firearms dealers and ammunition sellers to obtain an annual permit from the Sheriff, following background checks on employees, specified security measures, and maintenance of ammunition sales logs. The Sheriff’s determination may be appealed to the License Board, whose decision shall be final. The business premises may not be located in a residential area, or within 1,500 feet of any school, pre-school, day-care facility, park, community center, place of worship, liquor store, bar, youth center, video arcade, amusement park (not including a temporary carnival or similar event), or other permittee. These local requirements will help ensure that these businesses operate responsibly.

Ordinance requiring the reporting of lost or stolen firearms. Owners of firearms will be required to report the loss or theft of a firearm within 48 hours of the time he or she knew or reasonably should have known of such loss or theft. Laws requiring information about lost or stolen firearms help law enforcement expose and prosecute criminals and gun traffickers, who often falsely claim that their guns have been lost or stolen and used by youth and others to commit crimes. This ordinance will also help law enforcement return lost or stolen firearms to their lawful owners and disarm persons prohibited by law from firearm possession. In addition, these requirements will make gun owners more accountable for their weapons, and help protect gun owners from unwarranted criminal accusations when their guns are recovered at a crime scene.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The Sheriff is assessing the anticipated fiscal impact.