LONG BEACH AMMUNITION SALES REGISTRATION PROPOSAL UPDATE
Written by C D Michel
Friday, 20 March 2009 12:54
UPDATE:
Ammunition Registration Proposal Withdrawn in Long Beach! Due to overwhelming opposition from the pro-gun community, the Long Beach City Council decided not to draft an ordinance that would have required ammunition retailers in Long Beach to register ammunition purchasers. Thank you to all of the NRA members who answered the call in opposition to this attack on our Right to Keep and Bear Arms. Without you, this victory would not have been possible. While this is certainly a notable win, anti-gun forces are sure to try once again. Please continue checking your email and www.NRAILA.org for updates on this issue.
On Tuesday, March 24, the Long Beach City Council is set to vote on whether to proceed with drafting an ordinance which would force ammunition sellers in Long Beach to record the identity of all ammunition purchasers, as well as other details of the sales transaction. These records will then be collected and inspected by the Long Beach Police Department with the goal of identifying purchasers who are legally prohibited from possessing ammunition. The biggest ammunition seller in Long Beach is probably a Big 5 Sporting Goods store located there.
The vote is the culmination of several hearings and motions on the matter held over a span of nearly two years. Representing the NRA and CRPA, the law office of Trutanich-Michel, LLP (TMLLP) has been working on defeating the proposed ordinance since it was first proposed in 2007 by State Assembly candidate Bonnie Lowenthal to generate publicity for her campaign for state office.
The California Association of Firearm Retailers has also weighed in against the proposal.
TMLLP lawyers have maintained constant correspondence with the City of Long Beach, both through letters and requests made pursuant to the Public Records Act (linked below). Lawyers from TMLLP also attended all Public Safety Committee hearings and Public Safety Advisory Commission meetings on the matter and voiced opposition.
This ordinance is bad policy. It does not make economic sense for the City of Long Beach since it will burden already struggling retailers and lessen tax revenue while increasing city expenses for enforcement. Collecting and managing the information is cumbersome and inefficient, and does not uncover violent criminals, but rather individuals who have unknowingly lost their right to own a gun because of botched paperwork. The results of previous ammo registration experiments have been so dismal that other cites have abandoned these schemes rather than pay to maintain them.
In reality, the proposed ordinance is another covert mechanism to intentionally hinder law-abiding citizens from exercising their Second Amendment rights. The gun ban lobby has been striving to enact ammunition regulation laws of late as a way to try to get around preemption restrictions and make firearms useless.
The ordinance is also illegal. These ammunition registration ordinances are preempted by state law in light of the court’s decision in Fiscal v. City and County of San Francisco. They may very well also constitute an unconstitutional infringement on the Second Amendment. And, in response to questioning by one of TMLLP’s lawyers who was invited as a presenter to a Public Safety Committee hearing, an LAPD officer acknowledged that the information gathered in the few other cities with similar ordinances has been used for illegal purposes by police in those jurisdictions.
For a more detailed analysis of the opposition to the ordinance see the letters from Trutanich-Michel,LLP to the City linked below.
Your help is needed to defeat this proposal. Please call and email the Long Beach City Council and/or attend the City Council meeting on March 24, 2009 and voice your opposition. And tell your neighbors to do the same. Also be sure to visit www.calnra.com for the contact information of local representatives.
