San Francisco Board of Supervisors to Vote on Flawed Finding in Support of Problematic Ordinances

• Posted by:
• cmichel
• 18 Oct
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On August 2, 2011, San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi (who represents District 5) introduced an ordinance that would amend two existing sections of the San Francisco Police Code by adding “findings” to those two San Francisco’s ordinances, one of requires a handgun to be kept in a locked container or disabled with a trigger lock, and the other prohibiting the sale of “enhanced-lethality” “non-sporting” ammunition. The proposed new findings and other related documentation can be found HERE.

The proposed ordinance (File No. 110901 – Police Code – Safe Storage and Enhanced-Lethality Ammunition Findings) has been assigned to the Board of Supervisors (BOS) Public Safety Committee. That committee is scheduled to hear public comment on the proposal and other issues on Thursday, September 15, 2011 at 10:30 AM. The Public Safety Committee will then vote on what recommendation to make to the full BOS. The BOS will hear the matter in the coming weeks.

The “findings” in the proposed ordinance include conclusions from biased anti-gun studies ranging from claims that “having a loaded or unlocked gun in the home is associated with increased risk of gun-related injury and death” to things such as “[a]pproximately 80 percent of the individuals treated for violent injuries at San Francisco General hospital are uninsured.”

The findings are in reality a self-serving after-the-fact attempt to prop up a legislative record for use in Jackson v. City and County of San Francisco, No. 09-02143 (N.D. Cal. filed May 15, 2009). Jackson is an NRA lawsuit that challenges both of the ordinances these findings would supposedly support.

Opposing comments, information, and any counter ruling reports or studies can be submitted directly to the Public Safety Committee at or before the September 15th hearing. Opposing comments can also be submitted to the BOS on or before their scheduled September 20th meeting (which is the earliest date the matter could come before the full BOS).

Seventeen years ago the NRA and CRPA joined forces to fight local gun bans being written and pushed in California by the gun ban lobby. Their coordinated efforts became the NRA/CRPA “Local Ordinance Project” (LOP) – a statewide campaign to fight ill-conceived local efforts at gun control and educate politicians about available programs that are effective in reducing accidents and violence without infringing on the rights of law-abiding gun owners. To contribute to the NRA or to the NRA/CRPA LOP and support this and similar efforts, visit www.nraila.com  and www.crpafoundation.org.