Healdsburg approves gun safety ordinance

In response to a series of mass shootings that have taken place around the country, Healdsburg City Council has unanimously approved a gun safety ordinance that requires resident gun owners to safely secure their weapons in their homes.

The measure, which was passed in a 4-0 vote June 20, makes Healdsburg the second city in Sonoma County, behind Petaluma, to approve such a plan. Vice Mayor David Hagele was absent during the vote.

“What the firearm storage ordinances do is they place additional restrictions on storage of firearms above what state law currently requires,” said Healdsburg Police Chief Matt Jenkins.

The council began discussing safe gun storage in May following a spate of mass shootings in California and across the country.

“The intent is to decrease the risk of harming children and the entire community from unauthorized access to firearms. There are at least 20 California municipalities that have enacted similar ordinances over the last several years,” Jenkins said.

Those other California cities include San Francisco, Alameda, Tiburon, and Santa Cruz.

The current state law requires owners to safely store guns to ensure they won’t be easily accessed by children or adults who are not allowed to possess guns.

Legal transportation of a gun requires it be unloaded, locked in a trunk or in a locked container inside the vehicle and not concealed.

Healdsburg’s gun safety ordinance states: “No person shall keep a firearm within any residence unless the firearm is stored in a locked container or disabled with a trigger lock.”

The only exception to this rule is if the firearm is being carried by someone or in their immediate possession in accordance with local, state and federal laws.

The new ordinance also requires that a person report to the Healdsburg Police Department within 48 hours if their gun is lost or stolen if they live in Healdsburg or if a loss or theft happens in Healdsburg.

Violation of the law would be deemed an infraction, with the fine for the first offense not to exceed $100. Subsequent violations would incur additional fines, Jenkins said.

There are plans for continuous community education and outreach with the passage of the city’s gun storage requirements.

City staff will work with the city’s public information officer “to continue to push out this message so it’s not lost,” Jenkins said.

This comes in response to a point made by Council member Ron Edwards during the council’s May 1 meeting. Edwards said he “would like to see … a real effort of education“ for gun safety.

At last month’s meeting, each of the council members present, Edwards, Evelyn Mitchell, Chris Herrod and Mayor Ariel Kelley, all agreed on the safety component.

The safety education component was underscored again during the City Council’s deliberations at its June 20 meeting.

“I echo my colleagues’ comments and I think the proactive community education piece is definitely something I want to see staff move forward with in the adoption of the ordinance,” Kelley said.

During public comment prior to the council’s approval of the measure, two community members spoke in support of the safe storage ordinance, one of whom was Kelly Dorance, whose 9-year-old niece, Evelyn Dieckhaus, was killed in a March 27 school shooting in Nashville.

The one person who spoke against the ordinance, said they were concerned because it didn’t sufficiently address education, training or keeping people safe.

The ordinance will take effect on July 20.

You can reach Staff Writer Jennifer Sawhney at 707-521-5346 or jennifer.sawhney@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @sawhney_media.