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San Mateo County Supervisor David J. Canepa plans to introduce an ordinance at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting that would require the safe storage of firearms in residences.
If the ordinance is approved, firearms in homes must be stored in a locked container or be disabled with a trigger lock. It would apply only to residents in unincorporated areas, but Canepa said in a news release Sunday, Feb. 10, that he hopes it will serve as a model for consideration by the county’s 20 cities. Voters in Sunnyvale passed a similar ordinance in 2013 that survived a court challenge by the National Rifle Association, Canepa said.
“In the past 10 years, there have been 800 gun related deaths in San Mateo County,” Canepa said. “Many of these deaths could have been prevented if the firearms were locked safely in the home. This ordinance will surely save lives, I have no doubt about it.”
Tuesday’s board meeting begins at 9 a.m. at 400 County Center in Redwood City.
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How are we supposed to protect ourselves in our homes under the unfortunate circumstance of a spontaneous break-in when we have to go to our gun storage locker, enter the combination, load our gun, and then hold it up against the burglar and say stop I have a gun? Absolutely ridiculous. It’s always under my pillow and that’s where it’s going to stay.
Handguns can be kept in a biometric safe next to your bed. The safe can be opened in seconds with fingerprint technology. Much safer than sleeping with your head on a loaded weapon.
The risks inherent in having an unsecured and loaded firearm are too high. Multiple children die each day in our country because they found an unsecured gun in their home or one they’re visiting . Even if you live alone and never have visitors, what if your house is robbed while your not there and the gun is stolen?
I support this ordinance and I hope San Mateo County cities all decide to adopt it.
I cannot imagine the internal fear some must have to deal with. I’m all for you keeping your gun anywhere, that’s not the point at all. I just think it’s sad. Those without such fears might think you’re being stupid, but they cannot live in your head and they cannot know the fear you must feel each and every night that compels you to take such action.
This is already required by state law. Waste of the supes’ time.
Easy access to unsecured firearms is a deciding factor in a majority of unintentional child gun deaths. These tragedies are entirely preventable by safe storage.
Therefore I support this ordinance and hope is adopted in the whole San Mateo County.
I understand the fear to break-ins and strongly suggest a good home alarm system connected to the police to keep yourself, your family and your house safe.
This is NOT a state law. Under state law, you MAY be liable for a misdemeanor if your gun is not secure and a child under 18 accesses it and uses it, resulting in injury or death, or carries it to a public place. All gun sales in Cal require that the gun be accompanied by a DOJ-approved firearms safety device or proof that the purchaser owns a gun safe that meets regulatory standards. But there is no law that you have to use such devices once you leave the store.
This ordinance would require that all firearms be stored in a locked container or disabled with a trigger lock. Thus, you would be in violation even if no one accessed the gun.
“Thus, you would be in violation even if no one accessed the gun.”
If it doesn’t get accessed by someone that shouldn’t, how will anyone know?
Keeping a gun at home greatly increased the risk of harming a loved one.
11 times more likely to harm you or a loved one than stop a crime.
Based on facts, it’s a really stupid decision – purely based on emotions or another weakness.
gun deaths last year:
Japan: 10
Sweden: 41
Switzerland: 47
UK: 50
Israel: 105
Australia: 207
United States: 39,773
Thousands and thousands and thousands of Americans have found the hard way that keeping a gun is more dangerous than not – weakly being paralyzed by false fear, feebly trying to assuage the fear with a gun.
Every year – tens of thousands die.
Do not fall prey to the real villians: the fear mongers, the gun peddlers, the gun manufacturers, etc..
Save yourself and your family – no more guns.
Menlo Voter – the most likely scenario for enforcement would be if police were in the home for another reason, say a domestic violence call for example, and they see a loaded gun on the coffee table. Or maybe there’s one on the passenger seat next to you when you’re legally stopped for a traffic violation. They are not going to invade people’s homes to do compliance checks.
Boots,
your numbers off. Sweden has had 150 gun deaths per year for decades. (see the link below)
https://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/sweden
WRT to the USA rates. +60% of those deaths are suicide…..the majority of the rest occur in 8 large cities (St Louis, Baltimore, Detroit, NOLA, Chicago…..) Chicago alone accounts for several THOUSAND gunshot victims per year….
https://heyjackass.com/
Homicides in the USA are down drastically in the last 20 years. in 1990 NYC had almost 2500 homicides….last year 250. their gun laws were stronger in 2000 than now….go figure.
https://goo.gl/gmDiuK
Roy Thiele-Sardina
We have a home on our family’s farm in the UK. There are a number of guns on the property for the purpose of protecting livestock.
Here are the gun storage requirements:
“Conditions of the certificate for both firearms and shotguns include keeping the weapon and ammunition secured in a safe place when not in use to prevent access by an unauthorized person, and promptly reporting any loss or theft to the police. There are very specific levels of security that must be met to prove the secure storage of firearms, including cabinets that meet specific British safety standards.[68]
When considering whether firearms are kept safely, the police must take into account whether any unauthorized access to the firearms may occur, including by family members and associates who pose a danger to public safety.[69] “Unauthorized access” has been broadly interpreted to include situations where individuals other than the holder of the certificate have access to the keys for the secure storage where the firearms are kept.[70]
An example of how strictly the secure storage requirements for weapons are interpreted was highlighted in 2000 when Arthur Farrer, a former partner at Farrer & Co., the Queen’s lawyers, informed his eighty-one-year-old mother where he kept the keys to his gun cupboard. The police revoked Farrer’s license, a decision that was later upheld by the Court of Appeal, despite the police indicating that Farrer’s mother never handled the guns or otherwise expressed any interest in them.[71]”
Roy:
>> your numbers off.
Actually, Boots’ number is valid: “In the 306 confirmed shooting incidents during 2017 there were 41 deaths and 135 instances of injury.” https://www.thelocal.se/20171222/in-figures-2017s-shootings-in-sweden
Same source in a 2018 article says they were heading even lower at that time: “The number of shootings in Sweden has almost halved so far this year compared to 2017…” https://www.thelocal.se/20180510/fewer-shootings-in-sweden-this-year-but-figures-compare-poorly-with-other-countries
So, Sweden has appeared to greatly reduce their already low rate of gun death. You were in error with your comment on Boots’ number.
>> +60% of those deaths are suicide
I’m not clicking on your link, mostly due to the site name (“hey jack@$$”.) Perhaps something more authoritative, less vulgar. Or suspicious.
Yes many gun deaths in the home are just as the prior posters posited: you are less safe with a gun in the home.
>> Homicides in the USA are down drastically
Yes. Thus the fallacy of keeping a gun for home defense is highlighted, re homicides.
” A gun in the home is more likely to be used in a homicide, suicide, or unintentional shooting than to be used in self-defense.
Every time a gun injures or kills in self-defense, it is used:
11 times for completed and attempted suicides
7 times in criminal assaults and homicides, and
4 times in unintentional shooting deaths or injuries.”
http://www.bradycampaign.org/risks-of-having-a-gun-in-the-home
In case you are curious – I favor an Israeli style gun policy.
Good day.
@Roy Thiele-Sardiña — Using questionable (at best) websites does NOT help your case.
What it does is show how wedded you are to your pro-gun stance.
Reconsider.
Yes, approximately 2/3 of the more than 35,000 gun deaths each year are suicides. Nevertheless, these are gun deaths. Having an unsecured gun in the home increases the risk of death by suicide because a suicide attempt with a gun will most likely be fatal compared to other methods. Lock up your guns!!
>> Having an unsecured gun in the home increases the risk of death by suicide
LMFTFY
“Having ANY gun in the home increases the risk of death by suicide…”
Remember – every time a gun injures or kills in self-defense, it is used:
11 times for completed and attempted suicides
7 times in criminal assaults and homicides, and
4 times in unintentional shooting deaths or injuries
for the record. that website literally tracks EVERY shot fired in Chicago and the aftermath. you may not like the name…..it’s accuracy is unquestionable.
Roy
“the most likely scenario for enforcement would be if police were in the home for another reason, say a domestic violence call for example, and they see a loaded gun on the coffee table.”
Almost never.
“Or maybe there’s one on the passenger seat next to you when you’re legally stopped for a traffic violation.”
Already a problem if loaded. Do some research on California law. You can’t have a loaded firearm in a vehicle.
This is just another example of a politician trying to look like they are “doing something” about a problem that doesn’t really exist. Total waste of time and total bullsh*t. This supe is pretending to “do something” about a problem that doesn’t actually exist. No surprise in San Mateo County. God forbid they should actually do something about something that matters. Like a Sheriff caught in a whore house dealing in underage trafficked women. That was OK. The supes TOTALLY ignored it and our DA said that “to those that matter” it wasn’t a problem. If you don’t think you’re living in a totally corrupt county, you’re naive.
This proposal is total BS. This is supe trying to look like they’re doing something about a nonexistent “problem”.
You think he’s doing something “good”? Keep drinking the koolaid.
Welcome to the most corrupt county in California.
lelkins,
It is in fact already a law that guns must be kept in locked storage in homes where children might gain access to them. Below are the requirements No new ordinance is needed to cover this.
Criminal Storage “Criminal storage of firearm of the first degree” – Keeping any loaded firearm within any premises that are under your custody or control and you know or reasonably should know that a child (any person under 18) is likely to gain access to the firearm without the permission of the child’s parent or legal guardian and the child obtains access to the firearm and thereby causes death or great bodily injury to himself, herself, or any other person . (Pen . Code, § 25100, subd . (a) .)
“Criminal storage of firearm of the second degree” – Keeping any loaded firearm within any premises that are under your custody or control and you know or reasonably should know that a child (any person under 18) is likely to gain access to the firearm without the permission of the child’s parent or legal guardian and the child obtains access to the firearm and thereby causes injury, other than great bodily injury, to himself, herself, or any other person, or carries the firearm either to a public place or in violation of Penal Code section 417 . (Pen . Code, § 25100, subd . (b) .)
Neither of the criminal storage offenses (first degree, second degree) shall apply whenever the firearm is kept in a locked container or locked with a locking device that has rendered the firearm inoperable . (Pen . Code, § 25105 .)
I know many people who use guns to hunt on their own properties. Our neighbors do this, they are hunters and have hunted deer in their backyard since they have a 5 acre parcel. The reason they don’t have any issue? Their guns are locked up in storage shed. Problem solved!
Gun under a pillow,
You write as though you know what’s in the mind of Annie O and speak of her fear. Reasonable people take precautions to handle rare unfavorable events. We keep a fire extinguisher in our kitchen, a spare tire and first aid kit in our car, homeowners insurance, some non-perishable food in storage, a loaded firearm.
None of these actions are driven by fear, they are just reasonable precautions. Hopefully we never need to resort to using any of them.
@JimTurner — Survivalist talk? Seriously? Open a window, the air in your place is beyond stale.
@Roy Thiele-Sardiña — When you cite a website with a clear pro-gun agenda, as well as a clear political bias, you cannot insist that it impartially sticks to the facts.
Israeli laws:
Israelis must qualify for a license to buy or sell a firearm. They must be of SOUND MIND.
Yes, even they need state permission to SELL their *single* handgun.
Limitation of fifty cartridges in possession at any time. When fired at a range, they can be replaced up to the limit of fifty.
Must pass a shooting course every 3 years, and a psychological assessment at least every 6 years.
And yes – a safe at home for your single gun.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/comparing-america-to-israel-on-gun-laws-is-dishonest-and-revealing/
Seems fair. After all, it’s all about the well-regulated militia.
>> .. to hunt on their own properties. Our neighbors do this..
You claim to have neighbors *in* Portola valley that hunt with guns, on their property?