After a period of fifteen months since the last voting on the proposal, the La Mesa City Council has recently decided to advance a draft ordinance that aims to regulate safe gun storage within the city, according to an ABC 10 News report on July 12, 2023. The proposed law would require residents to securely store firearms either in locked containers or using trigger locks, with the sole exception being when the firearm is carried by or near an authorized user in the home, a similar perspective can be read in a Times of San Diego article published on July 11.
The La Mesa City Council's division over the issue has not changed much, as the draft ordinance managed to pass with a slim 3-2 vote, but this time Councilwoman Patricia Dillard replaced Bill Baber, who opposed the plan in a previous voting session held in April 2022. Dillard, a former member of La Mesa's Police Oversight Board, joined councilmembers Jack Shu and Colin Parent in support of the measure, which faced opposition from Mayor Mark Arapostathis and Councilwoman Laura Lothian.
La Mesa would join the cities of San Diego, Solana Beach, Del Mar, and Encinitas by implementing a so-called "safe storage" ordinance. San Diego County adopted a similar law for unincorporated areas, which came into effect on February 25, 2022, as noted by KUSI News.
The recent City Council meeting saw twenty-nine people address the issue, with twenty-three voicing opposition to the measure. One of the most vocal critics was Michael Schwartz, Executive Director of San Diego County Gun Owners, who expressed his bafflement with the council's decision, pointing out inconsistencies in the measure and arguing that it would not prevent suicides, as the firearms would already be at home when such attempts are made. Schwartz also asserted that the council did not appear to understand the implications of the proposed law, expressing concerns about their ability to make informed public policy decisions.
Councilwoman Dillard and Councilmember Shu, who co-sponsored the ordinance, emphasized that their proposal aimed to fill a "simple gap" in the state's gun storage laws, which currently regulate gun storage with the primary objective of keeping firearms out of reach of children, but do not require trigger locks or locked containers as mandatory storage measures. They claim that the new La Mesa ordinance would prevent burglars from stealing firearms and additionally protect children from accidental firearm-related incidents.
However, concerns have been raised by the Republican Councilwoman Laura Lothian, who referred to the proposed law as targeting "law-abiding La Mesa residents" and argued that it would weaken self-protection rights, creating difficulties in swiftly accessing firearms in emergency situations. The draft ordinance provides two exceptions to the keep-guns-locked requirement, allowing for firearms to be carried on a person's body or within their immediate control, but the concerns persist.
Despite the ongoing debate and numerous opposing views presented during the City Council meeting, the draft ordinance has advanced to the next stage in the legislative process. The future of the proposed law remains uncertain, as it faces a divided council and a community expressing mixed opinions on the necessity and efficacy of such a measure.
