San Francisco proposes gun ban
SAN FRANCISCO -- Frustrated by a 28 percent increase in homicides during the past year, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has proposed a sweeping measure banning handguns, injecting the city into the national debate over gun control.
The proposal will appear on the municipal ballot in November and would bar residents from keeping handguns in their homes or businesses.
It also would prohibit the sale, manufacture and distribution of any firearms or ammunition in San Francisco, where residents have bought nearly 22,000 handguns since 1996, according to the state attorney general's office.
Supervisor Chris Daly, who proposed the measure, said he and other supervisors already have received threatening phone calls and e-mails from gun supporters.
"Up to this point, I don't think anyone has come up with anything that's working," Daly said. "This is my contribution to trying to figure out a way to turn back the tide of violence."
Only two other major U.S. cities -- Washington, D.C., and Chicago -- have implemented handgun bans, and both were quickly challenged in the courts. The national gun lobby already has vowed to challenge San Francisco's ban if voters approve it.
San Francisco had 88 murders in 2004, up from 69 in 2003. Sixty-three of last year's homicides involved a firearm, San Francisco Police Sgt. Neville Gittens said. The city has averaged 71 homicides a year over the past decade, from a low of 58 in 1998 to a high of 99 in 1995.
While last year's number of homicides is an increase from the previous year, it's comparable to other U.S. cities of similar size. In 2003, for example, Jacksonville, Fla., had 92 murders and Indianapolis had 112.
That's one reason opponents are questioning whether such a sweeping proposal is necessary.
San Francisco's plan is ill-conceived and misplaced, said Chuck Michel, a Los Angeles lawyer who represents the National Rifle Association and the California Rifle and Pistol Association.
"It's turning firearms into a scapegoat for failed city policies," Michel said. "Criminals are never going to have any kind of problem getting the kind of guns they want."
Michel said he's preparing a legal challenge claiming a ban would violate the Second Amendment and that cities do not have the authority to regulate firearms. He said he plans to file his challenge before ballots are printed.