The OC Board of Supervisors is looking at new rules that would regulate how residents store their guns at home – at least in the unincorporated parts of Orange County.
Introduced by Fifth District Supervisor Katrina Foley at Tuesday’s board meeting, June 25, the proposed new ordinance the supervisors have asked county staffers to flesh out and come back with would make it unlawful for any person to keep a firearm within their home unless it is stored in a locked container or disabled with a trigger lock.
“The intent behind this ordinance is to provide clarity on what responsible gun ownership and safe gun storage means,” Foley said. “Without this clarity, you open the door for children or gangs or any other bad actors to easily steal guns and act irresponsibly. With the rise of home burglaries by these international crime rings that we’re seeing in many of our communities, we cannot afford to make gun theft easier for criminals.”
Exceptions to such a law, proposed in the staff’s report to the supervisors, could include if the weapon is being carried by the authorized owner or is in the immediate control of the owner so that the person could easily grab and use the weapon as if they were to be carrying it. Also, an owner of a firearm would not be subject to prosecution for violating the proposed law if they report that their firearm is lost or stolen.
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“The ordinance would not restrict the right for a gun owner to buy or own a gun, nor does it impact the ability of an owner to carry or bear these arms. Rather, it simply seeks to regulate safe gun storage,” Foley said.
Third District Supervisor Don Wagner, along with First District Supervisor Andrew Do, called the proposal a “solution in search of a problem” and didn’t support asking for the ordinance to be crafted.
“There is simply no evidence that’s been provided, either by the author or in any of the materials leading up to this, that this is a problem in our unincorporated areas,” Wagner said. “Orange County is one of the safest counties in the state of California. We have very little gun violence incidents, none of which this gun storage ordinance would have prevented. There’s no record in Orange County of any issue with gun violence or accidents related to insecure storage of the gun.”
This ordinance, if written and approved, “likely violates the Second Amendment” and would be challenged in court, Wagner added.
Fourth District Supervisor Doug Chaffee approved of the ordinance, but raised some concerns.
“Now we’re going into people’s homes and I don’t know how we respect privacy rights,” Chaffee said. “Whether, for example, a search warrant would be required to go into a home. What the penalty would be. None of that is indicated. But I am curious to see what the ordinance would look like.”
Wagner also pointed out that law enforcement should be consulted on resolutions that have to do with public safety.
“Why we would try to draft such a far-reaching resolution that addresses public safety without consulting with our law enforcement professionals is absolutely beyond me,” Wagner said. “What are the upsides? What are the downsides? What effect would all of this have on our community?”
Second District Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento said now that the supervisors have asked for a draft of an ordinance to consider, “I’m sure that counsel will confer with law enforcement and make sure that things are in compliance with state and federal law.
“When I was mayor in Santa Ana, we did this,” he added. “This has been done by other communities. This isn’t something that’s far-reaching. This isn’t something that’s an overreach. This is something that each community needs to consider.”
No date was given for when county staff is expected to return with a drafted ordinance for the board’s review.