Padilla, Feinstein Support LA Council Ordinance to Ban Ghost Guns
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Dianne Feinstein (both D-Calif.) last week expressed their support for a Los Angeles City Council ordinance that would ban unserialized, untraceable firearms known as ghost guns. The City Council is scheduled to hold a hearing on the ordinance tomorrow.
“This ordinance is an important effort to help keep unserialized and untraceable firearms, known as ‘ghost guns,’ off our streets,” the senators wrote in a letter to Council President Nury Martinez. “Similar initiatives have already been implemented in San Diego and San Francisco, and we commend the Los Angeles City Council for considering a similar measure.”
Full text of the letter follows and is available here:
November 22, 2021
Council President Nury Martinez
Los Angeles City Council
City Hall
200 N Spring St, Suite 470
Los Angeles, California 90012
Dear Council President Martinez:
We write in support of Los Angeles City Councilmembers Paul Koretz and Paul Krekorian’s ordinance to prohibit ghost guns in Los Angeles. This ordinance is an important effort to help keep unserialized and untraceable firearms, known as “ghost guns,” off our streets. Similar initiatives have already been implemented in San Diego and San Francisco, and we commend the Los Angeles City Council for considering a similar measure.
Ghost guns pose a significant threat to public safety, creating a loophole through which individuals who are barred from possessing firearms can evade regular, routine background checks. According to a report on California gun crimes in the New York Times, “[g]host guns have accounted for 25 to 50 percent of the firearms recovered at crime scenes” in California over the past 18 months. The Los Angeles Police Department alone has had an approximate 400 percent increase in ghost gun recoveries since 2017 and it is expected that this trend will continue to grow. A relevant example of how dangerous these weapons can be is the tragic shooting of two Los Angeles County Deputies last September. Ordinances like the one put forward by Councilmembers Koretz and Krekorian are essential to public safety.
As the Los Angeles Police Department has stated, ghost guns are an epidemic across the nation. That is why we are proud to support federal legislation such as the “Untraceable Firearms Act” and the “3D Printed Gun Safety Act”. As we work to pass these important pieces of legislation, we applaud the Los Angeles City Council’s efforts to tackle this issue.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter. We look forward to continuing to work with you on a state and federal level to help protect public safety.
Sincerely,
Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator
Alex Padilla
United States Senator
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