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San Ramon is the latest Tri-Valley community to approve local legislation aimed at amping up gun safety and closing a loophole in state law following discussion at two recent City Council meetings.
Councilmembers voted 4-1 at their meeting last Tuesday to pass the local gun safety and storage ordinance that requires all firearms to be secured in a safe or equipped with a safety device while being stored in residences.
The vote came following a public hearing that included a range of perspectives on the item, with some pointing to a lack of substantial impact of the new ordinance beyond its function of clarifying gray area in existing state law while others emphasized that this clarification and the presence of local regulations would be likely to change individuals’ behavior when it comes to gun safety in residences.
Mike Grant, who described himself as a longtime federal gun dealer, pointed to the existing restrictions on firearm purchases and requirements for safety as sufficient for preventing children under 18 from accessing firearms.
“City ordinances are just going to be another one on top like the chief said you’re not going to be going into anyone’s house,” Grant said. “Under a Fourth Amendment right that’s pretty tough to go into.”
Grant also argued that the ordinance would pose an obstacle in situations where residents might actually need their weapons while waiting for police responses, pointing to a statewide increase in crime reported by the California Attorney General’s Office.
“When you tell somebody to lock their gun up with crime up, I almost bet that in San Ramon like Dublin, it’s five minutes out to get to you,” Grant said. “You have five minutes, what are you going to do in that five minutes? You’re going to tell the burglar ‘my gun is locked up down the hallway.’ My wife’s going to say ‘hold on he’s going to get the gun; I’m getting the ammo and then we’re going to start the gun fight.'”
“This is a disservice to do this,” he added. “You’re making people’s lives unsafe by making these laws and passing these ordinances. We have enough laws — 225 gun laws on the books in California, 20,000 laws nationwide.”
Former San Ramon mayor Bill Clarkson was among the speakers in favor of the local ordinance in the public hearing, pointing to other efforts such as StreetSmarts during his time in office that were aimed at preventing problems before they occurred rather than contending with existing problems.
“This conversation prompted me that we as gun owners need to go an extra step to make sure that we secure our arms and I think that’s something we want to do to set a great example,” Clarkson said. “And I think it’s also part of the fact that we’re working as a community with people who are advocating for gun control, but I think the clear thing they need to hear is that if gun owners are responsible, they need to be responsible in allowing us to have our weapons and not to make a bigger issue of that.”
Former Danville councilmember Lisa Blackwell also spoke out in favor of the ordinance, pointing to other local regulations and programs such as StreetSmarts and rules aimed at deterring underage drinking and marijuana use in private residences.
“The gun safety storage ordinance is just another example of expanding safety standards and making a statement,” she said. “The ordinance is already law for households for our children. In fact our school district passed a requirement that you have to sign a statement that says you will have guns locked up if you have children in your house.”
She also pointed to gun thefts in neighboring areas such as Alamo and Blackhawk last year during which firearms were not secured, and said that they likely wound up being illegally distributed on the streets.
Her husband Brad Blackwell, a fellow Danville resident, underscored her points and called on the council to pass the ordinance for the sake of ensuring everything possible had been done at the local level to prevent accidents and crimes caused by firearms.
“You can’t prove a negative, but if there is one gun death in San Ramon in the near future as a result of criminal activity, suicide or a child accidentally shooting themselves, what the five of you will know is that you did all you could to prevent those activities from taking place,” Brad Blackwell said. “If you don’t act on this, you will always wonder.”
Similar regulations have been approved recently in Dublin, Pleasanton and Livermore.
At the conclusion of the public hearing, councilmembers Marisol Rubio and Scott Perkins voiced their support for the ordinance, while Vice Mayor Mark Armstrong pointed to the importance of the conversation on a topic that residents have strong and sometimes contradictory opinions on. In addition to the ordinance, he emphasized the importance of education on gun safety and existing regulations.
“It’s already having an impact by just us talking about it and getting the word out there,” Armstrong said. “But that’s really not enough. I think our residents want to comply with our laws. Often they don’t know how to, so the real question is how do we get the information out to the community.”
Armstrong also noted that the ordinance could be changed if its implementation poses difficulties or unforeseen obstacles after its adoption.
“I think tonight’s ordinance is one way or another, whichever way this thing goes, is still just a snapshot in time based on the information that’s all been presented so far,” Armstrong said. “It doesn’t mean we can’t change it over time if facts bear out to maybe need to change this ordinance.”
Councilmember Sridhar Verose made a motion to approve the ordinance, which was seconded by Rubio. Mayor Dave Hudson, who was the only member of the five-member council to vote against it, did not offer comments on the topic at Tuesday’s meeting.
