SOLANA BEACH, Calif. (KGTV) - The Solana Beach City Council is the latest local government body to take up the gun control debate in the wake of recent mass shootings.
On Wednesday night, the council passed Resolution 2018-036, which calls upon California Congressmen and women to pass gun safety regulations.
Included in the resolution is official opposition to the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017, currently making its way through Congress.
That bill would force states to honor Concealed Carry Permits from other states, regardless of how strict or relaxed each state's regulations are.
Other parts of the Solana Beach resolution call for:
- Raising the minimum age to buy a gun to 21
- Banning the sale of military-style semiautomatic and automatic weapons
- Banning the sale of high capacity magazines that hold more than 10 cartridges
- Universal background checks
- Mandatory safety training before buying a gun
- A 10-day waiting period before taking possession of a gun
You can read the full text of the resolution here.
The resolution makes Solana Beach the second city council in San Diego County to take up the issue. In January, a committee of the San Diego City Council passed a similar resolution.
Meanwhile, the Del Mar City Council asked the Fairgrounds to consider ending the Crossroads of the West gun shows that take place there several times each year following protests at the event earlier this March.
But gun rights advocates say moves like these are all grandstanding, and make the gun safety debate more divisive.
"I think the intention is to portray gun owners as dangerous and not law-abiding and it's just not true, it's the exact opposite," says Michael Schwartz, with the San Diego County Gun Owners PAC. He points out that other cities, like Santee, have voted to show support for concealed carry rights.
"Not welcoming law-abiding citizens from other states? I think that's a bad move," he says.
Supporters of the resolution say this about more than gun safety. They say the act in Congress is a state's rights issue.
"The people of California have spoken and created our laws that are more stringent than this," says Nikki Faddick with San Diegans 4 Gun Violence Prevention. "This measure would gut those laws."
The bill, co-sponsored by San Diego Congressmen Duncan Hunter and Darrell Issa, has already passed through the House of Representatives. It's currently waiting for a vote in the Senate.
