July 30, 1996

TO: All Mayors, Bay Area Cities

All Presidents, Boards of Supervisors, Bay Area Counties

On July 18, the ABAG Executive Board received a report from Shirley Dean, Mayor of Berkeley and Chair of the East Bay Public Safety Corridor Partnership, on the important progress cities and counties along the I-80/I-880 corridor in the East Bay are making toward the adoption of critical restrictions on hand guns.

To date, 15 cities in the East Bay are working to adopt ordinances banning junk guns, 14 cities have prohibited gun dealers from operating out of homes in residential areas, five cities have passed ordinances requiring trigger locks at point of sale and two cities have adopted gross receipts tax on all items sold by gun dealers. In addition, City Attorneys have suggested the creation of a joint legal defense fund to assist any jurisdiction facing a legal challenge to an ordinance.

The Executive Board was both impressed and appreciative of the model effort underway in the East Bay and encouraged to hear that other groups of local governments had contacted the East Bay cities to request information on their process and progress to date. After a full discussion of the importance of unified action, the Executive Board voted to issue a resolution (see the enclosed) urging local governments throughout the Bay Area to adopt ordinances to:

• ban the sale of junk guns;
• zone gun dealers out of residential areas; and
• require gun dealers to install trigger locks at the point of sale.

More importantly, the Executive Board asked that local governments work together to craft ordinances and enforcement procedures that are consistent, enforceable, constitutional, and capable of withstanding legal challenge. For information on ordinances and other information, see ABAG's Junk Gun Homepage (http://www.abag.ca.gov/bayarea/junkguns/guncont.htm).

We hope to hear soon that your jurisdiction has passed its own ordinance addressing one or more of these critical issues. If you have questions or would like to update ABAG on your own progress in this area, please call Patty Spangler, ABAG, at (510) 464-7933.

Sincerely,

Charlotte Powers, ABAG President

Councilmember, City of San Jose