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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 644 Safe Storage of FirearmsORDINANCE NO. 644 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MORRO BAY, CALIFORNIA, ADDING CHAPTER 9.36 (SAFE STORAGE OF FIREARMS) TO TITLE 9 (HEALTH AND SAFETY) OF THE MORRO BAY MUNICIPAL CODE, TO REQUIRE SAFE STORAGE OF FIREARMS LOCATED IN A RESIDENCE THE CITY OF MORRO BAY City of Morro Bay, California WHEREAS, the City of Morro Bay ("City") is empowered to enact legislation to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public and WHEREAS, firearm injuries, deaths and suicides have a significant public health impact both nationally and locally; and WHEREAS, firearm deaths from preventable, intentional and undetermined causes totaled 39,773 in 2017, a 2.9% increase from 38,658 deaths in 2016, according to the National S afety Council, and suicide deaths are the most common firearm related fatalities, accounting for 60% of deaths related to firearms, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention N ational Center for Injury Prevention and Control; and WHEREAS, data indicates that access to a firearm increases the risk of death by suicide by three times (Anglemyer A, Horvath T, Rutherford G. ' The accessibility of firearms and risk for suicide and homicide victimization among household members: A systematic review and meta - analysis." Annals of Internal Medicine. 2014; 160(2) 101-110); and WHEREAS, compared with people who stored their firearms unlocked and/or loaded, those who stored their firearms safely were less likely to die by firearm suicide (Edmond D. S henassa, Michelle L. Rogers, Kirsten L. Spalding and Mary B. Roberts "Safer Storage of Firearms at Home and Risk of Suicide* a Study of Protective Factors in a Nationally Representative Sample," Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 58 no. 10 (2004): 841- 848); and WHEREAS, nationally representative survey data suggests that approximately 380,000 guns are stolen from individual gun owners each year, and firearm owners who do not safely store their firearms are significantly more likely to have their guns stolen (David Hemenway Deborah Azrael, and Matthew Miller, 'Whose Guns are Stolen? The Epidemiology of Gun Theft Victims " Injury Epidemiology 4, no. 1 (2017)); and WHEREAS, more than half of all gun owners store at least one gun without any locks or other safe storage measures, and nearly a quarter of all gun owners report storing all of their guns in an unlocked location in the home (Cassandra K Cnfasi, et al., 'Storage Practices of US Gun Owners in 2016," American Journal of Public Health 108, no. 4 (2018): 532-537); and WHEREAS, Safe storage behavior can help to mitigate the risks of unsecured guns, with studies showing that these practices can prevent both firearm injuries and gun thefts (Michael C. 01181.0001/738140.4 CFN Ordinance No. 644 Page 1 Monuteaux, Deborah Azrael, and Matthew Miller, "Association of Increased Safe Household Firearm Storage With Firearm Suicide and Unintentional Death Among US Youths," JAMA Pediatrics (2019)); and WHEREAS, safe storage laws can help increase compliance with safe storage behaviors, and states with a law in place that required handguns to be locked at least in certain circumstances experienced reduced rates of firearm suicide (Michael D. Anestis and Joye C. Anestis, "Suicide Rates and State Laws Regulating Access and Exposure to Handguns," American Journal of Public Health 105, no. 10 (2015): 2049-2058); and WHEREAS, keeping a firearm locked or disabled with a trigger lock, when the firearm is not being carried by or under the control of an authorized user, prevents unauthorized users from accessing and using firearms, which can reduce tragedies due to suicide, unintentional discharges, and firearm theft, and WHEREAS, requiring firearms in a residence, when not being carried by, or in the immediate control of, an authorized user, to be either disabled with trigger locks or stored in a locked container ("safe storage requirements"), is consistent with Second Amendment rights and is constitutional (Jackson v. City & Cty. of San Francisco (9th Cir. 2014) 746 F.3d 953); and WHEREAS, safe storage requirements apply only to firearms that are not being lawfully carried or within the immediate control of a lawful user, and allow lawful firearm owners to carry loaded and unlocked firearms in their home at any time. THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MORRO BAY, CALIFORNIA DOES HEREBY FIND AND ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. CHAPTER 9.36 (SAFE STORAGE OF FIREARMS) IS HEREBY ADDED TO TITLE 9 OF THE MORRO BAY MUNICIPAL CODE, TO READ AS FOLLOWS: "Chapter 9.36 - SAFE STORAGE OF FIREARMS 9.36.010 - Purpose and Intent. 9.36.020 - Definitions. 9.36.030 - Prohibition. 9.36.040 - Violation and Penalty. 9.36.010 - Purpose and Intent. This law is intended to reduce firearm violence and firearm injuries and make the City safer. Having an unsecured firearm in the home is associated with an increased risk of firearm -related injury, death and suicide. Applying trigger locks or using locked containers when storing firearms in the home reduces the risk of firearm injury and death. Keeping a firearm locked or stored safely when it is not being carried or within immediate control ensures that it cannot be accessed and used by others without the owners' knowledge or permission. This simple measure significantly 01181.0001/738140.4 CFN Ordinance No. 644 Page 2 decreases the risk that the firearm will be used to commit suicide, homicide or inflict injury, whether intentionally or unintentionally. 9.36.020 - Definitions. The following words and phrases, as used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings: A. "Firearm" means a device, designed to be used as a weapon, from which is expelled through a barrel, a projectile by the force of an explosion or other form of combustion as defined in California Penal Code section 16520,=as amended from time to time. B. "Locked container" means a secure container that is fully enclosed and locked by a padlock, key lock, combination lock or similar locking device, as defined in California Penal Code section 16850, as amended from time to time, and is listed on the California Department of Justice Bureau of Firearms roster of approved firearm safety devices. C. "Residence' means any structure intended or used for human habitation including, but not limited to, houses condominiums rooms, accessory dwelling units, motels hotels vacation rentals, single room occupancies, time-shares, and recreational and other vehicles where human habitation occurs. D. "Trigger lock" means a trigger lock that is listed on the California Department of Justice's roster of approved firearm safety devices and that is identified as appropriate for that firearm by reference to either the manufacturer and model of the firearm or to the physical characteristics of the firearm that match those listed on the roster for use with the device under Penal Code section 23655(d), as amended from time to time. 9.36.030 - Prohibition. No person shall keep a firearm within a residence unless the firearm is: 1. Stored in a locked container or disabled with a trigger lock; or 2. Carried on the person of the owner, or other lawfully authorized user of the firearm; or 3. Within close enough proximity and control that the owner, or other lawfully authorized user of the firearm, can readily retrieve and use the firearm as if carried on that person. 9.36.040 - Violation and Penalty. Failure to comply with any of the requirements of this chapter is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the city or county jail for a period not exceeding six months or by fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or by both. Where the city attorney has determined that such action would be in the best interests of justice, the city attorney may specify in the accusatory pleading that the violation shall be an infraction and the violation shall be prosecuted as an infraction. SECTION 2. SEVERABILITY. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this ordinance is, for any reason, held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining 01181.0001/738140.4 CFN Ordinance No. 644 Page 3 portions of this ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this ordinance and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses, phrases, or portions thereof may be declared invalid or unconstitutional. S ECTION 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect thirty (30) days after its passage. S ECTION 4. CERTIFICATION. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this ordinance, and shall cause the same to be posted and codified in the manner required by law. INTRODUCED at a regular meeting of the City Council held on the 14th day of September 2021, by motion of Council Member Addis and seconded by Mayor Headding. PASSED AND ADOPTED on the 28th day of September 2021, by the following vote: AYES. Headding, Addis, Barton, Ford, Heller N OES' None ABSENT: None ATTEST: NA S AJOia ANSON, City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM: L h ri 5 a '16 CHRIS F. NEUMEYE ,City Atorney 01181.0001/738140.4 CFN Ordinance No. 644 Page 4 STATE OF CALIFORNIA ) COUNTY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO ) CITY OF MORRO BAY I, Dana Swanson, CITY CLERK OF THE CITY OF MORRO BAY, DO HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing Ordinance Number 644 was duly adopted by the City Council of the City of Morro Bay at a regular meeting of said Council on the 28t" day of September, 2021, and that it was so adopted by the following vote: AYES. Headding, Addis, Barton, Ford, Heller NOES. None ABSENT: None IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the official seal of the City of Morro Bay, California, this LP* day of b erbto.e, 2oz( 01181.0001/738140.4 CFN CVO Vv.., NA SWANSON, City Clerk Ordinance No. 644 Page 5