SR-701-007 (8)
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CA:RMM:rmd555/hpca
city Council Meeting 10-27-87
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Santa Monica, California
STAFF REPORT
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OCT 2 7 1987
TO:
Mayor and City Council
FROM:
City Attorney
Ordinance Adding section 3512 to the Santa
Monica Municipal Code to Prohibit the
Brandishing of Replica Firearms and Requiring
Warning Labels in Connection with the Sale
of Replica Firearms
SUBJECT:
At its meeting on September 8, 1987, the city Council
directed the City Attorney to prepare an ordinance prohibiting
the use or brandishing of replica or simulated firearms in an
assaultive or threatening manner. In addition, the City Council
at its meeting on June 30, 1987, directed the city Attorney to
explore options for regulating "war" toy weapons. In response to
both of these directions, the accompanying ordinance has been
prepared for City Council consideration.
The
accompanying
ordinance
addresses
two principal
concerns. First, it prohibits the use of replica firearms to the
same extent that the use of real firearms are prohibited by Penal
Code section 417.
Second,
it addresses the concern of
individuals over the accidental killing or injuring of children
because replica firearms were mistaken for real firearms.
The accompanying ordinance makes it a misdemeanor to
brandish a replica firearms. In addition, the ordinance requires
that all stores in the City of Santa Monica which sell replica or
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OCT 2 7 1987
simulated
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f1rearms afflx a warn1ng
.
label on the package
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containing the replica firearm. The warning label will alert the
purchaser to the fact that it is against the law to brandish a
replica firearm and that due caution should be exercised in the
use of replica firearms because children have been killed or
injured when replica firearms were mistaken for real firearms.
On September 29, 1987, the City council of the city of
Burbank adopted Ordinance Number 3085 prohibiting the sale of
replica firearms in the city. Given the availability of replica
firearms throughout California, the city Attorney does not
believe that prohibiting their sale in Santa Monica would curtail
the availability of replica firearms.
Any prohibition of the
sale of replica firearms needs to come from the state. Thus,
recognizing that replica firearms would still be available even
if Santa Monica prohibited sales, the warning label approach
requirement will educate the public about the appropriate uses
and dangers of replica firearms.
Moreover, local legislative
efforts to prohibit the sale of replica firearms may appear
incongruous when there is no similar prohibition on the sale of
real firearms.
RECOMMENDATION
It is respectfully recommended that the accompanying
ordinance be introduced for first reading.
PREPARED BY: Robert M. Myers, City Attorney
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CA:RMM:rrnd556/hpca
City Council Meeting 10-27-87
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Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF SANTA MONICA ADDING SECTION 3512 TO THE
SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE TO PROHIBIT THE
BRANDISHING OF REPLICA FIREARMS AND REQUIRING
WARNING LABELS IN CONNECTION WITH THE
SALE OF ANY REPLICA FIREARMS
WHEREAS, needless loss of life, including the lives of
children, has occurred across the united States due to toy guns
being mistaken for real guns; and
WHEREAS, the proscribing of the use or brandishing of
replica or simulated firearms in an assaultive or threatening
manner may lead to the prevention of injury or loss of life~ and
WHEREAS, the immediate prevention of assaults and threats
by means of replica firearms and simulation of firearms is vital
to the preservation of public safety,
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA
MONICA DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1.
Section 3512 is added to the santa Monica
Municipal Code to read as follows:
SECTION 3512. Replica Firearms.
( a)
Definitions.
For purposes of
this Section, the following words and
phrases shall have the following meanings:
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.
( 1)
Replica
.
Firearm.
Any
device or object made of plastic, wood,
metal, or any other material which is a
facsimile or toy version of,
or is
otherwise recognizable as,
a pistol,
revolver,
shotgun,
sawed-off
shotgun,
rifle, machine gun, rocket launcher, or
any other firearm and shall include toy
guns, movie props, hobby models (either in
kit form or fully assembled), starter
pistols, air rifles, pellet guns, BB guns,
or any other device which might reasonably
be perceived to be a firearm.
(2)
Firearm.
All
items
included in the meaning of firearm as
defined in Title 2 of Part 4 of the
California Penal Code.
(b) Brandishinq Replica Firearms.
No person, except in self-defense, shall
draw, exhibit, or brandish a replica
firearm in a rude, angry, or threatening
manner in the presence of another person,
or shall, except in self-defense, use a
replica firearm in any manner in any fight
or quarrel.
(cl Warninq Labels. No person in
the regular course of business shall offer
for sale or sell any replica firearm
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unless a warning label has been attached
to the package, box, or other container
containing the replica firearm as follows:
(1) The warning label shall
be printed in at least 14-point type.
(2) The warning label shall
be printed in red ink against a white
background.
(3) The warning label shall
be affixed to a package or box containing
the replica firearm so that it is clearly
visible to the purchaser.
(4) The warning label shall
state, in English and in spanish, the
following:
WARNING
1. Santa Monica Municipal Code 3512
makes it a misdemeanor to draw , exhibit I
or brandish this replica firearm in a
rude, angry, or threatening manner.
2. Children have been accidentally
killed or injured because replica firearms
have been mistaken for real firearms.
Exercise caution in the use of this
replica firearm.
SECTION 2.
Any provision of the santa Monica Municipal
Code or appendices thereto inconsistent with the provisions of
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this Ordinance,
.
1::0 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 3.
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 4. 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 15 days after its adoption. This Ordinance shall become
effective after 30 days from its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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ROBERT M. MYERS
City Attorney
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