GunsOakland wants to write its own gun control laws
The leaders of Oakland, California, say that state gun laws are not suitable for their crime-infested city. They want to write their own gun law, saying it would not ban guns, but would allow the city to have tighter controls on who owns and who is selling them and buying them.
Oakland politicians are debating a proposal to change a city law so it would allow Oakland not to abide by California’s existing gun regulations. The proponents of the change say the new law would be better suited for their city which has a high crime rate.
CBS-5KPIX reports that Councilwoman Libby Schaaf is behind the legislation, known as AB 180.
“Under AB 180, the City of Oakland would be given the authority to regulate the registration of firearms and licensing of gun owners — areas which are currently pre-empted by state law. AB 180 is a smart and sensible bill that empowers Oakland and provides local control in addressing gun violence,” Bonta told CBS.
“Cities can’t have their own gun licensing and registration laws, so it’s a great tool for Oakland because we have a unique problem with gun violence,” Schaaf said.
“This is not banning guns,” Shaff added. “This is just having tighter controls on who’s owning and who’s selling them and buying them,” she explained. “This law would allow Oakland to actually create that type of procedure and get guns out of the hands of people who should not have them.”
Last year there were 2,091 armed robberies and 783 reported shootings in Oakland. Shootings were also the cause of the majority of the 131 homicides in the city. On average, the city had to deal with eleven gun-related crimes per day last year.
According to FBI crime data, more homicides, robberies, and other violent crimes occurred in the first half of 2012 than San Francisco and San Jose, cities that have more than double the population of Oakland.
True Vine Ministries pastor Zachary Carey says residents are living in a war zone, and disputes the notion that most of those dying on the city’s streets have some tie to gangs.
“When you hear about violence in America on the news, the tagline associated with it is gang-related,” Carey told KQED’s Mina Kim during a rally to bring attention to recent homicides. “But the reality is, people that are being murdered now are not gang-related, they’re innocent bystanders.”
Bonta heads a select committee on gun violence. Last week the AB 180 provision was approved by the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee.
