L.A. PANEL BACKS REPORTING LAW ON MISSING GUNS OWNERS WOULD GET 48 HOURS TO TELL.Byline: KERRY CAVANAUGH Staff Writer The City Council's Public Safety Committee gave its unanimous endorsement Monday to a proposed law that would require gun owners whose weapon is lost or stolen to report it to police within 48 hours. The proposed law, which heads now to the City Council, is aimed at cracking down on ``straw buyers,'' who purchase weapons for criminals, juveniles and others unable or unwilling to buy their own guns. ``Right now, after a crime has occurred, the purchaser of the weapon can just throw up his hands and say, `Gee, someone must have stolen my gun,''' said Councilman Jack Weiss Jack Weiss, is a member of the Los Angeles City Council representing the 5th district. Weiss was elected in 2001 and reelected in 2005. The 5th district includes parts of the Westside and the San Fernando Valley. , a former federal prosecutor who initiated the proposed ordinance A law, statute, or regulation enacted by a Municipal Corporation. An ordinance is a law passed by a municipal government. A municipality, such as a city, town, village, or borough, is a political subdivision of a state within which a municipal corporation has been . ``Efforts are going to be focused on people who are buying guns for bad guys who can't buy guns for themselves or don't want to.'' The ordinance would require city residents to report the loss or theft of a gun within 48 hours of learning that the gun is missing. Failure to do so would be a misdemeanor. The rule would reach back five years and require anyone who lost or had their gun stolen within that time to report the loss to the Los Angeles Police Department "LAPD" and "L.A.P.D." redirect here. For other uses, see LAPD (disambiguation).  This article or section is written like an . within 60 days.
Councilman Greig Smith Greig Smith is a Los Angeles City Councilman, representing the 12th District, which includes Granada Hills, Northridge and other parts of the Western San Fernando Valley. Smith is also a reserve officer for the Los Angeles Police Department. supported the proposed rule, but said it would be difficult to enforce because investigators must show that the offender knew the weapon was missing. ``The good guys, we're going to get them to do what they need to do, but not the bad guys. The bad guys are going to say, `I didn't know it was stolen,' and are we going to draw the line and say you should have known?'' But law enforcement officials said they could build a case against the errant er·rant adj. 1. Roving, especially in search of adventure: knights errant. 2. Straying from the proper course or standards: errant youngsters. 3. gun owner. The proposed ordinance is modeled after similar laws in San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden and Oakland. Sen. Alan Lowenthal Alan Lowenthal (born March 8, 1941 in New York City, New York) is a member of the California State Senate. Alan Lowenthal was elected to represent the 27th District of the California State Senate in November of 2004. , D-Long Beach, has proposed state legislation that would make it a crime for failing to report a missing gun within five days of realizing it's gone. kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com (213) 978-0390 |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion