Introduce by title only, waive first reading, receive public comment, and continue to the next regularly scheduled meeting an amendment to Title 5, Chapter 10 to enact an ordinance entitled "An Ordinance of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors Regarding the Safe Storage of Firearms." (No general fund impact) (Pogledich/May)

According to the CDC, more Americans died of gun-related injuries in 2020 (the most recent data available) than in any other year on record, a 43% increase from 2010.  The rise in gun-related deaths nation-wide has resulted from increases in both gun-related suicides and gun-related homicides. While California's gun-related death rates are lower than the national average, over eight of every 100,000 Californians die from gun-related injuries every year.  Meanwhile, the number of firearms in the United States has increased to an estimated 120 firearms per 100 residents.

In an effort to ensure that firearms are not used without the owner's permission or stolen, staff propose an ordinance regulating the safe storage of firearms.  Most gun-owners are law-abiding citizens, so the goal of this ordinance is to give the public guidance on how to properly store firearms in their home while the firearms are unattended.  The proposed ordinance would require that firearms in the home be kept in a locked container or be equipped with a trigger lock.  The requirements would not apply when the firearm is carried on the individual or in their close proximity and control.  Violation of the storage requirements would be a misdemeanor.

Staff also are researching whether similar regulations are needed for the gun storage in unattended vehicles.  State law already governs the vehicle storage of handguns , so any local regulation would focus on non-handgun firearms.  Staff are engaged with the Sheriff's Office to consider regulatory options.

Adoption of the ordinance would be exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") under the common sense exemption (CEQA Guidelines 15061(b)(3)) because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the ordinance would have a significant effect on the environment.