LA County supervisors advance regulations on gun, ammo stores

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors tentatively approved an ordinance Tuesday that would impose additional regulations on gun and ammunition dealers, including requirements for adults to accompany minors in such stores and mandating annual sales reports and fingerprint logs of purchasers.

“We need to prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands and part of that effort is ensuring gun and ammunition dealers are acting responsibly,” Supervisor Janice Hahn, who proposed the measure, said in a statement after the vote. “These are common-sense regulations that will make sure gun dealers have basic security measures in place, maintain inventory and keep records of who they sell guns and ammunition to.”

The ordinance, which will return to the board Nov. 7 for a final vote, will apply to retailers of guns and ammunition in unincorporated areas. According to Hahn’s office, there are currently 18 gun dealers and two ammunition-only retailers in unincorporated areas.

Under the measure:

• ammunition dealers would be required to obtain a business license and comply with the same requirements as gun dealers;
• minors would be prohibited in stores that sell guns and ammunition unless they are accompanied by an adult, with “sight separation” required in mixed-use stores; and
• stores would be required to maintain an annual sales report, keep a fingerprint log of people who purchase guns or ammunition, prepare weekly inventory reports, install security cameras and display signs warning customers about the “risks associated with access to guns.”

The measure would also increase license application and renewal fees for such retailers, and require the county Treasurer and Tax Collector to publicly post a list of stores whose licenses have been suspended or revoked.

The ordinance is one of four that Hahn first proposed last year, and the third to be adopted. Earlier this year, the board voted to ban the sale of .50-caliber firearms and to prohibit the carrying of guns at county facilities such as ball fields and parks, with the exception of law-enforcement officers and military personnel.

A fourth ordinance still under development would require a 1,000-foot buffer zone between gun stores and sensitive locations such as schools, day care centers, parks and playgrounds.

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