The Los Altos City Council last night adopted a firearm safe-storage ordinance, an action that proponents say will save lives.
The unanimous decision allows for amending the city’s municipal code to require owners to place weapons in locked containers, disable the firearm with a trigger lock or “have the firearm in their close possession and control.”
According to a city staff report on the ordinance, “Firearm fatalities and injuries are of epidemic proportions in Santa Clara County and across the country, and that unsecured weapons in the home pose a threat to public health and safety. When firearms are left unsecured in homes, children are at risk of injury or death. Studies have found that the risk for suicide increases when firearms are kept loaded and/or unlocked.”
The council action comes at the urging of Councilmember Jonathan Weinberg, who pushed for an ordinance in April. The ordinance is designed to fill a gap in legislation – the state does not have a law requiring that gun owners store their weapons safely.
The ordinance has the backing of the Los Altos Police Department. Capt. Katie Krauss, in answering a question about enforcement, noted that officers would not be targeting residences for adherence to the law, but would cite violators in the course of entering a home for another reason. Fines are $500 for the first infraction, $1,000 for the second.
Vice Mayor Anita Enander did not see a need for the ordinance. She said virtually all Los Altos gun owners already store their firearms safely. But she joined her colleagues voting in favor.
For more on the story, see next week’s print edition.
