Ammunition sales would be tracked electronically in Los Angeles under a measure tentatively approved today by the City Council, which also directed staff to draw up an ordinance that would require gun owners to store firearms in locked containers or use trigger locks to disable them when not in use.
The City Council voted 11-0 in favor of a proposed ordinance that would require gun stores to transmit ammunition sales records to the city via an online form, doing away with what one councilman described as the city’s “draconian” method of requesting physical records.
If given final approval by the council on second reading and signed by the mayor, the measure would make it a misdemeanor crime if retailers fail to comply with the reporting requirements.
Sacramento adopted a similar ammunition reporting law that has been upheld, according to city officials.
Ammunition dealers are now required to keep their sale records for at least two years, but do not have to turn them in unless requested by police.
The LAPD collects hundreds of pages of purchase records in hard copy, which officials say are time-consuming to search through to determine whether any of the buyers are prohibited from possessing ammunition.
The council also instructed the city attorney’s office to draft an ordinance — modeled after a 2007 law adopted in San Francisco — that would require gun owners to store or disable weapons when they are not in use.
The draft ordinance will return to the council for final consideration.
Proponents of the gun storage measure say that while the state requires guns to come with safety locks, there is no requirement for firearm owners to actually use them, or to store the weapons in locked containers.
San Francisco’s gun storage ordinance has withstood a challenge in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, city officials said.
“There shouldn’t be any issues as far as challenges to this, but whether there are or not, we need to step forward, take a leadership role in keeping the people of Los Angeles, and especially the children of Los Angeles safe,” said Councilman Paul Krekorian, who helped author both measures.
The motivation for the two measures “boils down to safety,” he said.
“Requiring gun owners to lock up their firearms and store them responsibly will prevent needless accidents and tragedies,” Krekorian said. “And requiring electronic reporting of ammunition sold in the city will let the police cross-check sale records against databases of people who are prohibited from purchasing it. These are simple and sensible steps that will keep people safe.”
