LOS ANGELES, Oct. 28 (UPI) — The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a new law Tuesday requiring gun owners in the city to keep them locked up or to have locking mechanisms.
The new law would require gun owners to keep the guns in their homes in a locked container if their weapons do not have a locking safety mechanism whenever their guns are not close at hand.
City Councilman Paul Krekorian spoke passionately before the vote that the new law would prevent accidents and suicides by keeping guns out of the hands of children and depressed teens.
“It’s unacceptable to live in a country where it’s more dangerous to be a preschooler than to be a police officer,” Krekorian said. “And we can do something about that today.”
The councilman referred to a New York Times op-ed that said 82 “preschoolers” or children younger than 4 years old were shot and killed, compared to 27 police officers killed in the line of duty in 2013.
The law states handguns must be locked up or have the trigger lock mechanism on unless they are “within close enough proximity and control that the owner or another legally authorized user can readily retrieve and use them as if carried on the person.”
The law would most likely be utilized by police when called to a home for other reasons or after a shooting. It is not clear how the rules apply to situations such as sleeping with a loaded gun on the nightstand or under the pillow. Violators could face a misdemeanor charge.
Gun rights activists said they might sue on the point that lawmakers can’t tell people how to keep their guns insides their homes.
Mayor Eric Garcetti said he will sign the law, going into effect 30 days later.
