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County hears plan to ban gun shows
By Richard Halstead, IJ reporter
Public hearing April 15 on disputed topic
Marin County moved a step closer yesterday to taking action on a proposal to ban gun shows.
The Board of Supervisors heard the first reading of an ordinance prohibiting the possession of firearms and ammunition on county property. Officials made no comment on the proposal.
A public hearing and vote is scheduled for April 15.
San Rafael resident Sue Lifschiz, a spokeswoman for the Marin chapter of the Million Mom March/United with the Brady Campaign, urged supervisors to adopt the ordinance as soon as possible.
"This action has already been taken by the neighboring counties of Alameda, Sonoma and San Mateo," Lifschiz said. "If Marin does not act now, our county will increasingly attract weapons shoppers from all over the Bay Area."
She said the ordinance is supported by Marin's "faith-based community, parent-teacher associations, League of Women Voters, Marin County Human Rights Commission and various homeowners associations."
Sallie Nordyke, whose firm T&R Trade Shows has staged a gun-and-knife show at the Marin Center each year since the mid-1980s, was not available for comment.
In 1999, after the shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., Supervisor Hal Brown championed an ordinance to prohibit the sale of guns or ammunition on county property.
But plans for the ordinance were put on hold after gun show advocates mounted legal challenges to similar ordinances adopted by Los Angeles, Alameda and Sonoma counties.
Lifschiz recalled how she first wrote to supervisors in 1995 imploring them to ban gun shows on county property.
"It's been a long wait since then," Lifschiz said, "but finally the California Supreme Court and United States 9th Circuit Court of Appeals have paved the way for counties to restrict the possession of firearms on county property."
In February, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal dismissed a challenge to the Alameda County ordinance, ruling that gun enthusiasts have neither a First Amendment nor Second Amendment right to possess weapons for sale on county property. Gun show bans previously had been upheld by the California Supreme Court.
According to the Marin ordinance, 72 percent of the homicides committed in California in 2001 involved a firearm. In Marin, 388 robberies and 188 aggravated assaults were executed using a firearm from 1991 to 2000.
"I'm very grateful that you've seized this opportunity," Lifschiz said.
http://www.marinij.com/Stories/0,1413,234~24407~1291106,00.html
By Richard Halstead, IJ reporter
Public hearing April 15 on disputed topic
Marin County moved a step closer yesterday to taking action on a proposal to ban gun shows.
The Board of Supervisors heard the first reading of an ordinance prohibiting the possession of firearms and ammunition on county property. Officials made no comment on the proposal.
A public hearing and vote is scheduled for April 15.
San Rafael resident Sue Lifschiz, a spokeswoman for the Marin chapter of the Million Mom March/United with the Brady Campaign, urged supervisors to adopt the ordinance as soon as possible.
"This action has already been taken by the neighboring counties of Alameda, Sonoma and San Mateo," Lifschiz said. "If Marin does not act now, our county will increasingly attract weapons shoppers from all over the Bay Area."
She said the ordinance is supported by Marin's "faith-based community, parent-teacher associations, League of Women Voters, Marin County Human Rights Commission and various homeowners associations."
Sallie Nordyke, whose firm T&R Trade Shows has staged a gun-and-knife show at the Marin Center each year since the mid-1980s, was not available for comment.
In 1999, after the shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., Supervisor Hal Brown championed an ordinance to prohibit the sale of guns or ammunition on county property.
But plans for the ordinance were put on hold after gun show advocates mounted legal challenges to similar ordinances adopted by Los Angeles, Alameda and Sonoma counties.
Lifschiz recalled how she first wrote to supervisors in 1995 imploring them to ban gun shows on county property.
"It's been a long wait since then," Lifschiz said, "but finally the California Supreme Court and United States 9th Circuit Court of Appeals have paved the way for counties to restrict the possession of firearms on county property."
In February, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal dismissed a challenge to the Alameda County ordinance, ruling that gun enthusiasts have neither a First Amendment nor Second Amendment right to possess weapons for sale on county property. Gun show bans previously had been upheld by the California Supreme Court.
According to the Marin ordinance, 72 percent of the homicides committed in California in 2001 involved a firearm. In Marin, 388 robberies and 188 aggravated assaults were executed using a firearm from 1991 to 2000.
"I'm very grateful that you've seized this opportunity," Lifschiz said.
http://www.marinij.com/Stories/0,1413,234~24407~1291106,00.html
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