ITEM 8-B
Council Mtg: May 24, 1994 Santa Monica, California
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: City Staff
SUBJECT: Extension of Ordinance 1735 (CCS) Prohibiting Home
Occupation Permits and Business Licenses for the Sale,
Transfer, or Lease of Firearms or Munitions in Any
Residential District, Providing for the Revocation of
Existing Permits, and Establishing a Conditional Use
and Police Permit System
INTRODUCTION
This report recommends that the City Council extend for eighteen
months Ordinance 1735 (CCS), which regulates gun and munition
permits.
BACKGROUND
On April 12, 1994 the City Council adopted Ordinance 1735 (CCS)
on an emergency basis to regulate gun and munition permits and
licenses in the City. This ordinance is valid for a period of 45
days from its adoption and will expire if not extended. The
attached proposed ordinance would extend the provisions of
Ordinance 1735 for a period of 18 months, to allow time for
permanent standards to be enacted.
BUDGET/FINANCIAL IMPACT
Extension of Ordinance 1735 would result in minor fiscal impacts
in that it will result in non-renewal of affected existing
business licenses, which are relatively few in number. License
revenues would be diminished accordingly.
RECOMMENDATION
It is respectfully recommended that the Council adopt the
attached ordinance.
Prepared by: Suzanne Frick, LUTM Director
D. Kenyon Webster, Planning Manager
ORDINANCE NUMBER ____
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SANTA MONICA PROHIBITING HOME OCCUPATION PERMITS AND BUSINESS
LICENSES FOR THE SALE, TRANSFER, OR LEASE OF FIREARMS
OR MUNITIONS IN ANY RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT, PROVIDING
FOR THE REVOCATION OF EXISTING
PERMITS, ESTABLISHING A CONDITIONAL USE AND POLICE PERMIT
SYSTEM AND DECLARING THE EXISTENCE OF AN EMERGENCY
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES ORDAIN
AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Findings and Purpose. The City Council finds
and declares:
(a) Firearms are used in several hundred crimes including
homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault in the City of
Santa Monica each year.
(b) The accidental discharge of a firearm can lead to
serious injury or death especially when it occurs in residential
areas.
(c) Inadequately secured firearms can be stolen and such
firearms can then be used in further serious criminal activities.
(d) The sale of firearms or munitions in residential
districts or in residential property is incompatible with the use
of the district or property for dwelling purposes.
(e) Neither the State of California nor the federal
government has sufficiently addressed the problems resulting from
the increased availability and use of firearms in urban areas
such as the City of Santa Monica.
SECTION 2. Prohibition on Home Occupation Permits and
Business Licenses.
(a) The Zoning Administrator shall deny a Home Occupation
Permit to any person who operates or manages any business or
occupation which sells, transfers, leases or offers or advertises
for sale, transfer or lease any firearm or munition.
(b) No person shall operate any business which sells,
transfers, leases or offers or advertises for sale, transfer or
lease any firearm or munition in any residential ("R") district
or in any property utilized for any residential use.
(c) The Director of Finance shall deny a business
license, including any request to renew a license previously
issued, to any person who operates or manages any business or
occupation which sells, transfers, leases, or offers or
advertises for sale, transfer or lease any firearm or munition in
any residential ("R") district or in any property utilized for
residential use.
(d) The Director of Finance shall only issue a business
license to any person who operates or manages, or who proposes to
operate or manage, any business which sells, transfers, leases,
offers or advertises for sale, transfer, or lease any firearm or
munition if the person obtains all necessary permits or other
licenses required by federal, state and City law.
SECTION 3. Firearms Dealer Permit and Conditional Use
Permit Required for Sale of Gun or Munition. Any person who
operates or manages, or who proposes to operate or manage, any
business which sells, transfers, leases, offers, or advertises
for sale, transfer or lease any firearm or munition, in any
location where such business is permitted shall obtain a
conditional use permit and shall obtain a firearm's dealers
permit from the Chief of Police,in addition to any other permits
required by law prior to operating or managing the business.
SECTION 4. Revocation of Home Occupation Permits and
Business Licenses.
(a) The Zoning Administrator may revoke any approved Home
Occupation Permit which authorized a person to operate or manage
any business which sells, transfers, leases, offers or advertises
for sale, transfer, or lease any firearm or munition in any
residential district or in any property utilized for any
residential use.
(b) The Director of Finance may revoke any business
license issued to any person to operate or manage any business
which sells, transfers, leases, offers or advertises for sale,
transfer, or lease any firearm or munition in any residential
district or in any property utilized for any residential use.
(c) The Zoning Administrator is authorized to revoke any
Home Occupation Permit if the Zoning Administrator determines
that the permit is no longer compatible with residential
activities, or if the Zoning Administrator determines that due to
changes in law, the permit is no longer valid.
SECTION 5. Conditional Use Permit. The City Planning
commission, or the City Council on appeal, shall have the
authority to approve the use of a property for a business or use
which sells, transfers, leases, offers or advertises for sale,
transfer or lease any firearm or munition in any location where
such business is permitted, and shall issue a Conditional Use
Permit if the following findings can be made in an affirmative
manner:
(a) The proposed use will not adversely affect the
welfare of neighborhood residents in a significant manner.
(b) The proposed use will not contribute to an undue
concentration of similar uses in the area.
(c) The proposed use will not detrimentally affect nearby
neighborhoods considering the distance of the use to residential
buildings, churches, schools, hospitals, playgrounds, parks, and
other existing similar uses.
(d) The proposed use is compatible with existing and
potential uses within the general area.
(e) The public health, safety and general welfare are
protected.
(f) No harm to adjacent properties will result.
(g) The proposed use is not within one thousand five
hundred (1,500) feet of any other similar use, any day care
facility, or any elementary, middle, junior or high school.
SECTION 6. Manner of Application; Fees. An application
for a firearms dealer permit under this Ordinance shall be filed
with the Chief of Police under penalty of perjury on a form to be
specified by the City. The application shall provide all
relevant information to demonstrate the applicant's compliance
with this Ordinance including a floor plan of the proposed
business which illustrates the applicant's compliance with the
security provisions of Section 9 of this Ordinance. The
application shall also include a certification by the City
Planning and Community Development Department that the
applicant's business will not be located in a zoning district in
which the operation of a firearms business is prohibited by law
and that the applicant has secured a conditional use permit as
may be required by this Ordinance. The applicant shall provide
all information requested, including the proof of compliance with
all applicable federal, state, and local law when required by the
Chief of Police, or the application will not be deemed complete.
The application shall be accompanied by the fees established by
resolution of the City Council for administering this Ordinance.
SECTION 7. City's Right to Investigation of Any Relevant
Facts. The Chief of Police may cause to be conducted an
investigation to determine whether the application for a firearms
dealer permit meets all the requirements of federal state and
local law and may require any and all additional information from
an applicant that is deemed necessary to complete the
investigation.
SECTION 8. Grounds for Denial of Application. The Chief
of Police shall give the applicant a written notice of the
Chief's decision to grant or to deny the application for a
firearms dealer permit. The notice shall set forth the ground or
grounds for the Chief of Police's decision. The Chief of Police
shall deny the issuance of a permit when any of the following
conditions are met:
(a) The applicant, or any officer, employee, or agent
thereof who will have access and control over firearms is under
twenty-one (21) years of age.
(b) The applicant is not licensed as required by all
applicable federal, state, and local laws.
(c) The applicant, or any officer, employees, or agent
thereof who will have access and control over firearms, has had a
permit previously revoked or denied for good cause within the
immediate preceding two (2) years for failure to operate its
business in compliance with the requirements of federal, state or
local law, including any conditions imposed by such laws.
(d) The applicant, or any officer, employee, or agent
thereof who will have access and control over firearms, has made
a false or misleading statement of a material fact or an omission
of a material fact in the application for a permit.
(e) The applicant, or any officer, employee, or agent
thereof who will have access and control over firearms, has been
convicted of the following:
(1) Any offense which disqualifies the person
convicted from owning or possessing a firearm under applicable
federal, state, and local laws.
(2) Any offense related to the manufacture, sale,
possession, or registration of any firearm or dangerous of deadly
weapon.
(3) Any offense involving the use of violence upon the
person of another.
(4) Any offense involving theft, fraud, dishonesty, or
deceit.
(5) Any offense involving the manufacture, sale,
possession, or use of any controlled substance as defined by
California Health and Safety Code Section 11007 as said
definition now reads or may hereafter be amended to read.
(f) The applicant is within the classes of persons
defined in California Welfare and Institutions Code Sections 8100
or 8103.
(g) The operation of the business as proposed will not
comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws.
(h) The applicant, or any officer, employee, or agent
thereof, proposes to operate the business in a location where
such use is prohibited by City laws or has not been approved by
the Zoning Administrator or has not obtained other necessary City
permits.
(i) The applicant, or any officer, employee, or agent
thereof, is not the owner of record of the real property at which
the business is to be conducted, nor has a lease, license, or
other entitlement or possessory interest to operate such business
at such location.
(j) The premises at which such business is to be operated
do not contain the security measures required by Section 9 of
this Ordinance.
(k) Any other grounds for denial that exist as specified
in the Santa Monica Municipal Code.
SECTION 9. Security. Any business required to be
licensed pursuant to this Ordinance shall adhere to security
measures as required by the Chief of Police. Security measures
shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(a) The provision of secure locks, windows, and doors,
adequate lighting, and such fire and theft alarms as specified by
the Chief of Police.
(b) The storing of all firearms and munitions on the
premises out of reach of customers in secure, locked facilities,
so that access to firearms and munitions shall be controlled by
the dealer, or employees of the dealer entrusted to handle
firearms, to the exclusion of all others.
SECTION 10. Permit Issuance, Conditions; Terms; Right to
Inspect Premises and Records. Any firearms dealer permit issued
pursuant to this Ordinance shall be subject to all of the
following conditions, the breach of any of which shall be
sufficient cause for revocation of the permit by the Chief of
Police and denial of any application to renew a permit or to
obtain a future permit:
(a) The business shall be carried on only in the building
located at the street address shown on the City of Santa Monica
permit.
(b) The Permittee shall observe all federal, state, and
local constraints on the operation of the permitted business
including, but not limited to California Penal Code Sections
12072(b), 12073, 12074, 12077, and 12082, to the extent that the
provisions remain in effect.
(c) The licensee shall not deliver any pistol or revolver
to a purchaser earlier than fifteen (15) days after the
application for the purchase, lease, or transfer, unless
otherwise provided by state or federal law.
(d) The Permittee shall keep complete and current records
of all firearms transactions. In addition to the requirements in
California Penal Code Sections 12073, 12076, and 12077, Permittee
must also keep a complete current inventory of all firearms in
stock. This inventory shall include an entry for each weapon,
with the classification, serial numbers, and any other
information that is required by the Chief of Police for the
tracking of the chain of ownership of the firearm.
(e) The Permittee consents to the City's inspection of
the business premises and records in order for the City to
establish continued compliance with the terms of the permit.
(f) The licensee shall not deliver any firearm to a
purchaser, lessee or other transferee unless the firearm is
unloaded, and securely wrapped or unloaded in a locked container.
(g) The permit shall not become effective until the
Permittee has obtained all other permits required by federal,
state, or local law including, but not limited to, a business
license and zoning and building permits.
SECTION 11. Permit Duration One Year - Renewal. All
firearms dealer permits issued pursuant to this Ordinance shall
expire one (1) year after the date of issuance or automatically
upon revocation or expiration of Permittee's federal firearms
license, whichever is earlier. Such permits may be renewed by
the Chief of Police for additional periods of one year upon the
approval of an application for renewal by the Chief of Police and
payment of the renewal fee established by City Council
resolution. A completed application for renewal shall be
submitted to the Chief of Police at least forty-five (45) days
prior to the expiration of the current permit or else the permit
shall expire at the expiration of its term. If the application
is submitted in a timely manner, the permit to operate shall
continue in effect until two weeks after the Chief of Police
mails written notice to the applicant denying renewal. The City
of Santa Monica permit shall be granted conditionally upon the
applicant providing proof of a valid federal firearms license;
the permit will not become effective until applicant shows proof
of compliance with all applicable laws.
SECTION 12. Permit Assignment. No person shall assign or
in any manner transfer or attempt to assign or transfer any
firearms dealer permit issued pursuant to this Ordinance and any
such assignment or transfer or attempt to assign or transfer a
permit shall constitute grounds to revoke the permit.
SECTION 13. Permit - Grounds for Revocation; Appeals.
(a) In addition to any other basis for revocation of any
permit or license set forth in this Ordinance, any circumstance
constituting a ground for denial of the permit or license shall
also constitute a ground for revocation.
(b) Any person aggrieved by any decision to deny or
revoke any permit or license pursuant to this Ordinance may
appeal to a Hearing Examiner in accordance with Chapter 6.16 of
the Santa Monica Municipal Code.
SECTION 14. Permit - Liability Insurance. No permit
shall be issued or continued pursuant to this Ordinance unless
there is in full force and effect a policy of insurance in such
form as the City deems proper, executed by an insurance company
approved by the City whereby the applicant or Permittee is
insured against liability for damage to property and for injury
to or death of any person as a result of the sale, transfer, or
lease, or offering or exposing for sale, transfer, or lease, or
any firearm. The minimum liability limits shall not be less than
One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00) for damage to or destruction
of property in any one incident, and One Million Dollars
($1,000,000.00) for the death or injury to any one person. Such
policy of insurance shall contain an endorsement providing that
the policy will not be canceled until notice in writing has been
given to the City, address in care of the Risk Manager, 1717 4th
Street, Santa Monica, California 90401, at least thirty (30) days
immediately prior to the time such cancellation becomes
effective. Upon expiration of any such policy and if no
additional insurance has been secured prior to the expiration
thereof in the manner provided for the initial securing of a
permit under this Ordinance, the permit shall be deemed canceled
without further notice or opportunity to be heard.
SECTION 15. Permit - Authority to Inspect. Any and all
investigating officials of the City shall have the right to enter
the building designated in the permit from time to time during
regular business hours to make reasonable inspections to observe
and enforce compliance with building mechanical, fire,
electrical, plumbing, and health regulations, as well as the
provisions of this Ordinance. A police investigator may conduct
compliance inspections to ensure conformance with all federal,
state, and local laws, and the provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 16. Compliance by Existing Dealers. Any person
engaging in the business of selling, transferring, or leasing, or
advertising for sale, transfer, or lease, or offering or exposing
for sale, transfer, or lease, any firearms on the effective date
of this Ordinance shall have a period of ninety (90) days after
such effective date to comply with the provisions of this
Ordinance.
SECTION 17. Violation - Misdemeanor; Civil Enforcement.
(a) Any person who conducts a business in violation of
this Ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor for each day a
violation occurs. Each violation of this Ordinance shall be
punishable by up to one (1) year in jail or a Five Hundred Dollar
($500.00) fine, or both.
(b) In addition to any other penalty or remedy, the City
Attorney may commence a civil action to seek enforcement of this
Ordinance.
SECTION 18. This Ordinance shall be of no further force
and effect eighteen (18) months from its adoption, unless prior
to that date, the City Council extends the ordinance in the
manner required by law.
SECTION 19. This Ordinance is declared to be an urgency
measure adopted pursuant to the provisions of Section 615 of the
Santa Monica City Charter. It is necessary for preserving the
public peace, health and safety, and the urgency for its adoption
is set forth in the findings above.
SECTION 20. Any provision of the Santa Monica Municipal
Code or appendices thereto inconsistent with the provisions of
this Ordinance, to the extent of such inconsistencies and no
further, are hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary
to affect the provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 21. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause,
or phrase of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid
or unconstitutional by a decision of any court of any competent
jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the
remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby
declares that it would have passed this Ordinance, and each and
every section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase not
declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether
any portion of the Ordinance would be subsequently declared
invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 22. The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall
attest to the passage of this Ordinance. The City Clerk shall
cause the same to be published once in the official newspaper
within fifteen (15) days after its adoption. This Ordinance
shall become effective upon adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
____________________________
MARSHA JONES MOUTRIE
City Attorney