The Redwood City Planning Commission advocated for implementing greater safety precautions in sensitive areas where children often travel without adult supervision when weighing in on draft regulations around firearm retailers and where they locate in the city, a decision commissioners said balances public safety with the constitutional right to bear arms.
During a meeting Tuesday, the Planning Commission voted 6-1 to recommend that the City Council adopt an ordinance prohibiting firearm and ammunition retailers from opening within 600 feet of child care centers, libraries, community centers, faith-based places of worship and Courthouse Square.
The 600-foot buffer would also apply to in-home child care facilities if staff can develop a method for identifying those sites. The state does not provide addresses for in-home child care sites due to confidentiality.
A larger buffer of 1,000 feet will apply to areas like schools, public parks and youth centers which Commissioner Rudy Espinoza Murray said are spaces children often frequent without adults. The 1,000-foot buffer was a change from staff’s proposal that called for a 600-foot buffer for all sensitive uses. Staff did propose a 1,000-foot buffer between firearm dealers to prevent clustering, which remained in the version supported by the commission.
Espinoza Murray, who proposed the commission’s recommended changes, said he was approaching the issue as both a father concerned for public safety and a gun enthusiast who enjoys hunting and supports common sense gun control legislation.
“I don’t think there has ever been a more unifying land use issue in Redwood City. Overwhelmingly, residents have shared the opinion that they do not want their children exposed to firearms and ammunition retailers,” Espinoza Murray said. “What we cannot do is essentially ban the legal sale of firearms through land use policy. We must find a balance between respecting the Second Amendment and permitting the lawful sale of firearms and ammunition while reducing the health and safety impacts of easy access to guns.”
Redwood City began its work around regulating gun retailers last October after the city received two inquiries from two separate gun retailers interested in opening up shops, one in Roosevelt Plaza and the other at 648 El Camino Real. Staff realized the city did not have an ordinance on the books regulating the sale of guns and ammunition within city limits and asked the council to approve a moratorium on gun shops to allow for the issue to be studied.
To justify the pause, staff argued guns pose a danger to the community. During Tuesday’s meeting, Assistant City Manager Michelle Poché Flaherty used national data to reiterate those concerns.
She noted gun violence, including mass shootings and suicide by firearms, have been on the rise in recent years with guns recently becoming the leading cause of deaths for children and teens in the United States. Women are also at greater risk of dying by gun violence, according to national data, which shows one woman is killed every 16 hours by a current or former partner with a gun.
Research has found a connection between strong regulations of firearm sales and reduced rates of firearm related fatalities but City Attorney Veronica Ramirez noted whatever regulations the city adopts must stand up to legal scrutiny.
“The key for the city as we reach this is to understand what regulation can we put in place in order to protect the health and safety of the community while also balancing the rights of the community to access such firearms,” Ramirez said.
Still, the public has continuously, and overwhelmingly, called for stronger restrictions. A survey by the city found that 78% of respondents thought laws governing gun sales should be more strict, far above the national average of 55%-65%. Similar percentages of respondents wanted gun retailers to obtain a police permit, provide the police department with access to records and inventory reports, post information about suicide prevention and for minors to be prohibited from entering gun shops.
During two community meetings and again this Tuesday, residents also called for a 1,000-foot-buffer from sensitive uses during those meetings and came out again Tuesday with the same demand.
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Some were educators who said they and their students have been traumatized by an uptick in gun violence and mass shootings at schools. Some were parents and grandparents and gun owners who also worried for the safety of young people.
“The citizens here, the people you represent are loudly, loudly, clearly saying 1,000 feet,” said Merrily Robinson, a lifelong Redwood City resident. “Please listen, please be strong and stand up for our children.”
No one spoke out either in person or virtually against regulating the shops during Tuesday’s meeting but the city survey showed about 16% of respondents wanted fewer restrictions and 6% said they wanted the city’s codes to remain as they are. Regardless of what the city decides to do, it’s likely to face a legal challenge, Ramirez said.
“The city is prepared for that,” she added.
All seven commissioners shared their support for some level of regulations while taking into account the legal ramifications of limiting shops.
Both Espinoza Murray and Commissioner Kimberly Koch said their lives have been affected by gun violence but Koch, the lone vote against the measure, shared her own doubts about whether distance from gun shops reduces crime, noting the incident in her family resulted after a gun was acquired outside the city where she lived.
Commission Chair Rick Hunter argued the 1,000-foot buffer appeared to be a “sweet spot” in the region. Other jurisdictions have adopted the standard when regulating firearm dealers including neighboring San Carlos. Staff argued the larger buffer could be too restrictive so Hunter suggested residential areas be added into the list of sensitive uses.
Commissioners Isabella Chu and Anthony Lazarus emphasized the importance of considering underserved communities when creating such policies. Lazarus, who initially said he wouldn’t support the measure, asked that staff present the council with a map showing where shops will be permitted and how close those sites could be to underserved communities.
Chu said data has shown higher concentration of gun stores in underserved communities leads to higher rates of gun violence in those areas but a similar trend isn’t seen in more affluent communities. With that in mind, Chu said she couldn’t support Hunter’s suggested buffer for residential areas, which she said are already protected compared to residents living in mixed-use areas.
“I certainly understand the Constitution issue at hand, that if we appear to be banning firearms we would be outside the law. We have to follow the law and the law around gun ownership is not up for debate tonight,” Chu said. “But I do believe we need an ordinance that does not exacerbate existing disparities in gun violence — and the current ordinance does that — and that we find a way to protect in-home child care facilities in a way that is adherent with the law and defensible.”
The City Council will have the ultimate final vote on the ordinance but staff agreed to conduct additional research into how the policy can be equitably implemented and whether the city can regulate display windows ahead of the council’s decision. The policy proposal is expected to come before the council on May 22.
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(4) comments
Ah yes, NIMBY for some things, such as firearm/ammo retailers and those carbon-spewing electrical generation plants, but it’s YIMBY to folks who illegally crossed the border and who have served prison time. Great to see RC’s priorities… Fortunately, for those in RC wanting firearms/ammo, they can go to nearby cities.
You seem to confusing the Redwood City Planning Comnission with the San Mateo County BOS, Terence.
You are correct, though, in pointing out those in Redwood City who desire firearms/ammo can do so in neighboring cities.
Curious to know how many of the commissioners own and have had any firearms training. Law abiding citizens who live in underserved communities should have the opportunity to shop and purchase firearms locally.
What does it matter how many commissioners own firearms and have had fire arms draining? The issue at hand is land use.
The man in Nashville and the man in Texas were both law abiding citizens until they weren't.
As terrence pointed out above, Folks in Redwood City who want firearms can travel to neighboring cities to purchase them.
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