Mere days before a planned right-wing rally comes to San Francisco, a city supervisor is calling for stricter gun laws.
Supervisor Mark Farrell is pushing for a law that would prohibit people from carrying firearms in public areas, including Crissy Field, where a hotly debated Patriot Prayer rally is expected Saturday.
As things stand, Crissy Field is federal land and falls under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service so people with a valid Concealed Weapons Permit are lawfully able to carry a handgun onto the property.
Farrell, however, points out that federal law defers to state and local law, which prohibit the open carrying of firearms in California.
It’s at the discretion of the National Park Service to enforce these laws so Farrell is calling on the agency to arrest people who attend Saturday’s rally and violate laws.
With reports of armed militias potentially attending the controversial rally, Farrell admits that he’s being forced to push for a law he’d never imagined would be necessary in San Francisco.
“We never thought we’d need to have this quite frankly, never thought an incident like this would happen,” he said. “But we want to make sure we’re clear going forward that San Francisco has a very strong law … restricting carrying firearms in certain places.”
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Farrell will not be able to even discuss the proposed legislation until the Board of Supervisors is back from recess next week.
Joey Gibson, the organizer of Patriot Prayer, posted a video on Facebook, claiming that National Park Service officials told him the rally will be gated off from counter-protesters. People coming to Crissy Field can also expect to be searched, he said.
