LA County enacts gun control measures after mass shootings

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a series of gun control measures on Tuesday in the wake of last month’s mass shooting in Monterey Park, just eight miles from the meeting hall .

The package included about half a dozen measures aimed at curbing fatal shootings in the county. Most will have to go through additional checks before becoming county law.

Only two orders discussed on Tuesday should come into force soon. The sale of .50 caliber handguns — firearms with bullets half an inch thick — would be banned in unincorporated LA County. The second would prohibit the carrying of firearms on county property, which includes beaches, parks and buildings – even if the person has a concealed carry permit. There is an exception for law enforcement.

The board will take a final vote on the motion, drafted by supervisors Janice Hahn and Hilda Solis, in two weeks.

“Here we are: facing an epidemic of gun violence that continues to devastate our communities,” Hahn said. “Today we are taking action to move forward in our fight against gun violence.”

Several other measures related to gun reform discussed on Tuesday will take longer to implement.

The county is working on zoning restrictions that would establish a 1,000-foot buffer between gun stores and “child-safe zones,” which Hahn defined at the meeting as places where children congregate, such as playgrounds. The county is also considering an ordinance that would tighten regulations for gun dealers, including requirements that they maintain security cameras and keep a fingerprint log.

These regulations would only apply to arms dealers in unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County.

Supervisors also instructed county attorneys on Tuesday to begin drafting three separate orders aimed at keeping guns only in the hands of those who know how to use them. One would require county gun stores to prominently post warning signs stating that having a gun in the home increases the “risk of suicide, homicide, deaths in domestic disputes and involuntary deaths of children”.

The second would require firearms kept at home to be stored securely in a locked container or disabled using a trigger lock. And the third would require gun owners to have liability insurance. County leaders say they hope the insurance will require gun owners to take classes on how to use and store guns safely.

THE movement the launch of these orders was written by supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Solis.

Horvath said the push for safer gun storage has hit close to home. She said someone she played with as a child lost their life after playing with a gun her parents kept a gun in an unlocked closet.

Stacey Moseley, a volunteer with the California chapter of Moms Demand Action, said of everything that happened on Tuesday, she thought the stockpiling measure would have the biggest impact. She said her husband survived an accidental shooting in a house when he was a child.

“If we can keep guns out of the hands of people who aren’t supposed to have them — whether through theft or a child finding them in a closet — we can save lives,” Moseley said.

But Steven Lamb, an Altadena resident and former council member, said he found the council’s package – including the gun safe storage measure – “outrageous”. Lamb, who said he’s owned a century-old single-shot .22 Remington since he was 7, wanted easy access to his gun.

‘It renders the weapon useless for its intended purpose, which is to protect you,’ he said, adding that he did not trust the police to get to his house in a reasonable time. if someone breaks in.

Supervisor Kathryn Barger said she supports the package but wants to see the county do more to crack down on illegally purchased guns.

“When we do things like this, my concern is that we don’t get to the root cause of what’s going on,” Barger said. “The impact is that it’s a false sense of security.”