SR-101596-8-B
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CA:f:atty\muni\strpts\mhs\satnite
city council Meeting 10-15-96
OCT 1 5 1996
Santa Monical California
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: city Attorney
SUBJECT: An Ordinance of the City council Adding Chapter 3.26 to
the Municipal Code Prohibi ting the Sale of certain
Handguns Commonly Known as Saturday Night Specials
INTRODUCTION
At its meeting on October 8, 1996, the city Council introduced for
first reading an ordinance prohibiting the sale of certain handguns
commonly known as Saturday Night specials. The ordinance is now
presented to the city council for adoption.
RECOMMENDATION
It is respectfully recommended that the accompanying ordinance be
adopted.
PREPARED BY:
Marsha Jones Moutriel city Attorney
Mary H. Strobel, Deputy city Attorney
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OCT f 5 1996
CA:f:\atty\muni\laws\mhs\satnite
City Council Meeting 10-15-96
Santa Monica, Californla
ORDINANCE NUMBER 1867(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.
Findinas and Puroose. 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 min~mum
safety features designed to prevent unintended shootings.
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(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 Speclals
have shown that these guns are disproportionately used in homicldes
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 Ordlnance,
the City Council does not intend to prevent the possesslon 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:
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CHAPTER 3.26 SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIALS
3.26.010 Definitions.
As used in this Chapter, except as specifically
excluded by Section 3.26.020, "saturday Night Specialll
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 casei and (iii)
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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 belng
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 centerf ire
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.
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(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
compi Ie, publish and thereafter maintain a Roster of
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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
ci ty 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 bas1s
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
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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 thlS
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
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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 portlon
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.
Ordinance shall be effective 30 days from its adoption.
This
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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City Attorney
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Mavor Pro Tern
State of Cahforma )
County of Los Angeles) ss
CIty of Santa MOllIca )
L ).'lana M Stewart. Cny Clerk of the Cny of Santa MOllIca. do hereby certIfy that the foregomg
Ordmance?\o 1867 (CCS) had Its first readmg on October 8. 1996. and had Its second readmg on
October 15, 1996 and was passed by the followmg vote
Ayes
CouncIl members
Abdo. Ebner. Genser. Greenberg, Holbrook
Noes
CouncIl members
None
Abstam
CouncIl members
None
Absent
CouncIl members
O'Connor. Rosenstem
ATTEST
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Cny Clerk \