Another Bay Area community will now require anyone who owns a gun to lock it up or face fines and maybe even a misdemeanor citation.
The city of San Ramon joined other East Bay cities by passing a firearm storage ordinance Tuesday.
The new ordinance essentially makes it so that there is no grey area when it comes to owning and storing a firearm in the city, and it’s in line with what’s already required in a large part of Contra Costa County.
San Ramon's city attorney lays out exactly what the new gun storage ordinance means.
“Gun owners will know exactly what the law requires for the storage of their firearms, without doing the analysis about whether or not a child may be present,” said San Ramon City Attorney Martin Lysons.
And the public got one more chance to tell city officials what they think about the ordinance.
"Over 80% of our public, and I’m thinking more in San Ramon, wants safe gun laws,” said Lisa Blackwell of Danville. “They want those, so I urge you to pass this.”
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“I believe this safe firearm ordinance should be enacted, because it can save lives, especially those of children,” said Steve Dean of San Ramon.
But not everyone supported the move.
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“This is absurd to do this,” said Mike Grant of Guns Unlimited Firearms Training. “You’re making people’s lives unsafe by passing these laws.”
The gun dealer and firearms trainer said the ordinances are redundant and mostly unenforceable.
“We have all these multiple laws, and to date, in the state of California and federally, not one person has ever been convicted of their gun not being locked up,” said Grant.
But city officials said they were responding to requests from citizens to tighten up the law and the language in it and the council voted 4-1 to pass the ordinance which goes into effect in 30 days.
“We can’t see everything, and it’s really about encouraging certain behavior, and it’s about being proactive,” said Marisol Rubio of the San Ramon City Council.
The ordinance requires anyone with a gun or a rifle to lock them up in an approved safe or with a trigger lock.
Violators face a $100 fine for the first offense and fines increase for repeat violations.
Someone who gets three violations in a year can be charged with a misdemeanor in addition to the fines.
Gun owners of California said it will sue the city and ask a court to overturn the new ordinance.
