Los Angeles, CA – Today, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to support a proposal by Supervisors Janice Hahn and Hilda Solis to pursue strengthening gun violence prevention policies in LA County.
“We are seeing kids marching in the streets because they are scared of being shot in their classrooms,” said Supervisor Janice Hahn. “The bipartisan deal on gun control reached over the weekend in the Senate is a sign of progress and I hope we see meaningful federal action soon, but we shouldn’t stop there. There are measures we can enact here at the local level that can save lives and that is what I want to do.”
The motion asks the County’s legal counsel to report back to the Board with a list of potential regulations the Board can implement to strengthen gun control measures and enhance the efficiency of regulations that already exist.
During the meeting, Hahn also added two amendments to the motion. The first directs County Counsel, in consultation with the Department of Public Health, to report back on the possibility of declaring gun violence a public health crisis and the legal implications and benefits of doing so. The second throws the Board’s support behind the recently announced framework for bipartisan federal gun violence prevention legislation.
“Just a couple of meetings ago, we moved motions forward to enforce the possession of ghost guns and potentially ban their sale,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, First District. “Now with this motion, we can determine more concrete actions to save lives. Gun control is both a public safety and health matter. And our residents – our parents, our children, our teachers, our workers – are looking to us to act.”
Among other things, Hahn asked that counsel examine the following potential regulations for unincorporated Los Angeles County:
- Raising the age to purchase long guns (rifles and shotguns) to 21
- Banning the sale of .50 caliber handguns
- Enacting a safe storage ordinance similar to the City of LA’s
- Adopting buffer zones near schools where gun vendors cannot operate
- Prohibiting people who are on the no-fly list from buying guns
Read the full motion here: Item 16