Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Supervisor Dave Pine, District 1
Supervisor Don Horsley, District 3
Subject: Ordinance to adopt new licensing and security requirements for retail establishments selling firearms and ammunition
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt an ordinance repealing Sections 3.52.060, 3.52.070, 3.52.080. 3.52.090, 3.52.110, and 3.52.120 of Chapter 3.52 of the San Mateo County Ordinance Code and adopting a new Chapter 3.51 to impose new licensing and security requirements for retail establishments selling firearms and ammunition, previously introduced on June 8, 2021, and waive the reading of the ordinance in its entirety.
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BACKGROUND:
The State of California has created a strong regulatory framework for the possession and use of firearms. The state was one of the first in the nation to enact a gun violence restraining order law and has the most robust system in the country for removing firearms from people who are prohibited from possessing them. Consequently, California has the seventh-lowest gun death rate in the country and the fifth-lowest crime gun export rate.
Regarding firearm sales, California is among a minority of states that imposes licensing requirements on firearm dealers at the state level (discussed below); but these state requirements are minimal, leaving local governments with discretion to impose their own additional licensing requirements. California law specifically contemplates local regulation of firearms dealers, including licensing and security requirements, to supplement state law. Additionally, no federal or California law requires firearms dealers to implement certain minimum security measures nor restricts them from operating in residential neighborhoods or near places of worship, schools, daycare centers, or other places where children frequent.
Existing State and Federal Regulations
Firearm dealers are regulated by federal...
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