Council Meeting 10/8/96 Santa Monica, CA
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: City Attorney
SUBJECT: Ordinance Banning the Sale of Saturday Night Specials
in the City of Santa Monica
Introduction
At its meeting on November 14, 1995, the City Council directed
the City Attorney explore the feasibility of adopting an
ordinance which bans the sale of handguns known as "Saturday
Night Specials" in the City. In response to this direction, the
accompanying ordinance has been prepared and is presented to the
City Council for adoption.
Discussion
The accompanying ordinance prohibits the sale of Saturday Night
Specials by gun dealers doing business in the City. The ban is
based upon the findings that these handguns are unsafe and are
disproportionately used in the commission of crimes.
Studies regarding the use and manufacture of Saturday Night
Specials reveal the following. American made Saturday Night
Specials, 80% of which are manufactured by six companies in Los
Angeles, are characterized by their low quality of manufacture
and metallurgy. They lack the minimum safety features designed
to prevent unintended shootings, and are made out of inferior
metal. Because of the poor quality of their manufacture, persons
using these handguns are at great risk from self-inflicted
injuries and fatalities. In addition, because of their
unreliability, they are not useful for self-defense. The cost to
produce these handguns is very low; they can be produced and sold
in large numbers. Cheap and easily available, they are used
disproportionately in the commission of homicides and other
crimes.
Attached as Exhibit 1 is an excerpt from a publication produced
by the Legal Community Against Violence. This publication
provides information about the manufacture and use of Saturday
Night Specials as well as suggestions about writing local
ordinances banning sales of these handguns. Additional studies
regarding the manufacture and use of these guns which support the
findings of the Ordinance are listed on Exhibit 2.
The definition of "Saturday Night Special" contained in the
accompanying ordinance is similar to the definition used by other
jurisdictions. The proposed ordinance establishes a procedure
for the administrative development of a specific roster of guns,
by manufacturer's name and model number, meeting the definition
of "Saturday Night Special."
West Hollywood has enacted a similar ordinance. That ordinance
is currently being challenged in court, principally on the basis
that state law preempts local jurisdictions from regulating the
sale of handguns. A trial court ruling on this issue is expected
shortly.
Recommendation
It is respectfully recommended that the accompanying ordinance be
introduced for first reading.
ORDINANCE NUMBER (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF SANTA MONICA ADDING CHAPTER 3.26 TO THE
MUNICIPAL CODE PROHIBITING THE
SALE OF CERTAIN HANDGUNS COMMONLY KNOWN
AS SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIALS
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA DOES ORDAIN AS
FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Findings and Purpose: The City Council of the
City of Santa Monica finds and declares as follows:
(a) The City wishes to reduce handgun-related
crimes; eliminate the self-inflicted injuries and
fatalities caused by the use of poor quality firearms
which fail to meet minimum safety requirements; and
make the City's neighborhoods safer.
(b) The Federal Gun Control Act of 1968 prohibits
the importation of poorly made handguns, but does not
ban their manufacture and sale in the United States.
(c) Those handguns commonly known as "Saturday
Night Specials" are dangerous products due to their low
quality of manufacture and metallurgy. Many of these
handguns lack minimum safety features designed to
prevent unintended shootings.
(d) As a result of their inferior craftsmanship,
Saturday Night Specials are not sufficiently accurate
or reliable to be useful for sport or hunting purposes.
Although Saturday Night Specials are marketed by
manufacturers as a reliable means of person protection,
objective expert evaluations suggest that they are not
well suited for this purpose.
(e) Studies regarding the usage of Saturday Night
Specials have shown that these guns are
disproportionately used in homicides and other crimes.
(f) California Penal Code Section 12026 grants
most persons over the age of 18 the right to own,
possess, keep, or carry any pistol, revolver or other
firearm capable of being concealed upon the person at
their private property. In enacting this Ordinance,
the City Council does not intend to prevent the
possession of Saturday Night Specials.
(g) The Legislature has not, expressly, or
impliedly, preempted the areas of firearms sales. This
subject is within the scope of the municipal police
power. This Ordinance is an exercise of the police
power of the City of Santa Monica, and is designed to
protect the health, safety, and welfare of the
community.
SECTION 2. Chapter 3.26 is added to the Santa Monica
Municipal Code to read as follows:
3.26.010 Definition.
As used in this Chapter, except as specifically
excluded by Section 3.26.020, "Saturday Night Special"
shall include the following:
(a) A pistol, revolver, or firearm capable of
being concealed upon the person, as those terms are
defined in California Penal Code Section 12001(a),
which contains a frame, barrel, breechblock, cylinder
or slide that is not completely fabricated of heat
treated carbon steel, forged alloy or other material of
equal or higher tensile strength.
(b) a semi-automatic pistol which:
(1) is not originally equipped by the
manufacturer with a locked-breech action; and
(2) is chambered for cartridges developing
maximum permissible breech pressures above 24,100
Copper Units of Pressure as standardized by the
Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers Institute.
(3) For purpose of this subsection (b),
"semi-automatic pistol" shall mean a firearm, as
defined in California Penal Code Section 12001(b),
which is designed to be held and fired with one hand,
and which does the following upon discharge: (i) fires
the cartridge in the chamber; (ii) ejects the fired
cartridge case; and (iii) loads a cartridge from the
magazine into the chamber. "Semi-automatic pistol"
shall not include any assault weapon designated in
California Penal Code Section 12276.
(c) A pistol, revolver, or firearm capable of
being concealed upon the person, as those terms are
defined in California Penal Code Section 12001(a),
which:
(1) Uses an action mechanism which is
substantially identical in design to any action
mechanism manufactured in or before 1898 that was
originally chambered for rimfire ammunition developing
maximum permissible breech pressures below 19,000
Copper Units of Pressure as standardized by the
Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers Institute;
and
(2) Is chambered to fire either centerfire
ammunition or rimfire ammunition developing maximum
permissible breech pressures above 19,000 Copper Units
of Pressure as standardized by the Sporting Arms and
Ammunition Manufacturers Institute; and
(3) Is not originally equipped by the
manufacturer with a nondetachable safety guard
surrounding the trigger; or
(4) If rimfire, is equipped with a barrel of
less than 20 bore diameters in overall length
protruding from the frame.
(5) For purposes of this subsection (c),
"action mechanism: shall mean the mechanism of a
firearm by which it is loaded, locked, fired, and
unloaded.
Section 3.26.020 Exclusions.
"Saturday Night Special" does not include any of
the following:
(a) Any pistol which is an antique or relic
firearm or other weapon falling within the
specifications of paragraphs (5), (7), and (8) of
subsection (b) of California Penal Code Section 12020;
or
(b) Any pistol for which the propelling force is
classified as pneumatic, that is, of, or related to,
compressed air or any other gases not directly produced
by combustion; or
(c) Children's pop guns or toys; or
(d) An "unconventional pistol" as defined in
California Penal Code Section 12020(c)(12); or
(e) Any pistol which has been modified to either
render it permanently inoperable or permanently to make
it a device no longer classified as a "Saturday Night
Special."
Section 3.26.030 Roster of Saturday Night
Specials. The City Manager or his or her designee
shall compile, publish and thereafter maintain a Roster
of Saturday Night Specials, according to administrative
procedures to be adopted by the City Manager. The
Roster shall list those firearms, by manufacturer and
model number, which the City Manager or his or her
designee determines satisfy the definition of Saturday
Night Special as set forth in Section 3.26.010. After
its initial publication, the Roster of Saturday Night
Specials shall be published thereafter on a semi-annual
basis and a copy shall be sent to every dealer within
the City who is licensed to sell and transfer firearms
pursuant to Penal Code Section 12071, and who has
obtained a Firearms Dealer Permit in accordance with
Chapter 3.24 of this Code. After its initial
publication, the failure to publish a Roster on a semi-annual basis thereafter shall not be a defense to any
violation of this Chapter.
Section 3.26.040. Sales Prohibited.
No person who is obligated to obtain a firearms
dealer permit pursuant to Chapter 3.24 of this Code, or
any officer, agent or employee thereof, shall sell,
offer or display for sale, give, lease, lend or
transfer ownership or control of, any firearm listed on
the Roster of Saturday Night Specials. This section
shall not preclude a person who has obtained a firearms
dealer permit pursuant to Chapter 3.24 and any other
required local, state, or federal licenses, or any
officer, employee or agent thereof, from processing
firearm transactions between unlicensed parties
pursuant to Section 12072(d) of the Penal Code. This
section shall not be enforced until the Roster of
Saturday Night Specials has been completed and first
published in accordance with section 3.26.030 of this
Code.
Section 3.26.050. Exemptions.
Nothing in this Chapter shall prohibit the
disposition of any Saturday Night Special by police
departments, Sheriff's offices, marshal's offices, the
California Highway Patrol, other local, State and
Federal law enforcement agencies, or the military and
naval forces of this State or the United States for use
in discharge of their official duties.
SECTION 3. 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
effect the provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 4. 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 5. The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall
attest to the passage of this Ordinance. The City Clerk shall
cause this ordinance, or a summary thereof to be published once
in the official newspaper within 15 days after its adoption.
This Ordinance shall be effective 30 days from its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
_____________________________
MARSHA JONES MOUTRIE
City Attorney