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City Considers Law To Fingerprint Gun Buyers
Activist Says State Law And Citizens' Rights At Stake
Paul J. Young, Staff Writer
January 23, 2001, 12:50 a.m. PST
LOS ANGELES -- Some members of the Los Angeles City Council are prepared to vote for a measure that would require gun buyers to provide fingerprints before they could purchase a firearm.
Monday morning, a City Council panel approved the proposal, which now goes to the entire 15-member council for consideration.
Councilman Mike Feuer is the measure's author and says that it would be an effective tool for local prosecutors to use when building cases against people who try to illegally purchase guns.
"This provision paves the way for tough enforcement when prohibited persons attempt to buy guns, and it also will deter many from trying in the first place," Feuer said Monday.
Under his proposal, anybody trying to purchase a gun inside city limits would have to agree to be fingerprinted first.
The prints apparently would be kept on file and later utilized by prosecutors to help identify ex-cons trying to procure firearms.
According to Feuer's office, there have been 5,000 such instances statewide in the last year, but prosecutors have failed to bring solid cases against the suspects because of questions about their identities.
The councilman believes that fingerprinting "will help prosecutors win convictions of potentially dangerous criminals who illegally attempt to buy firearms."
Sam Paredes, Executive Director of Gun Owners of California, says that Feuer and those sympathetic to his proposal have a lot to learn about state law and citizens' rights.
"The council panel has just looked at state law and completely ignored it," Paredes told Channel 2000 Monday.
"In California, we have what's called a preemption law. Under its provisions, the whole area of regulation of firearms ownership is usurped by the state.
"This is not the purview of local communities. And that's so we don't have a checkerboard of laws on firearms from one locality to another. The state is the guiding light in these matters."
According to Paredes, the state attorney general has an obligation to step in and stop the city of Los Angeles from trying to enforce a measure like the one proposed by Feuer.
If Sacramento doesn't get involved, Paredes told Channel 2000 that his organization and other pro-self-defense groups will challenge fingerprinting.
"We'll go to court ourselves," he said.
As for what Paredes thinks of Feuer's proposal in general….
"It's hokum! In reality, it's a whole bunch of smoke. It's what I like to call 'slogan legislation.' It sounds good.
"They're pushing this piece of legislation [fingerprinting gun owners] whether it has any impact or not.
"There's no secret that L.A. wants fewer gun owners in city limits. And what better way to intimidate people than have them fingerprinted or photographed?"
Paredes told Channel 2000 that gun owners already undergo background checks and fill out pages of state and federal forms before they can purchase a firearm.
He added that "law-abiding" citizens shouldn't be fingerprinted like common criminals when they wish to avail themselves of their Second Amendment right.
Copyright 2001 by Channel 2000. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
City Considers Law To Fingerprint Gun Buyers
Activist Says State Law And Citizens' Rights At Stake
Paul J. Young, Staff Writer
January 23, 2001, 12:50 a.m. PST
LOS ANGELES -- Some members of the Los Angeles City Council are prepared to vote for a measure that would require gun buyers to provide fingerprints before they could purchase a firearm.
Monday morning, a City Council panel approved the proposal, which now goes to the entire 15-member council for consideration.
Councilman Mike Feuer is the measure's author and says that it would be an effective tool for local prosecutors to use when building cases against people who try to illegally purchase guns.
"This provision paves the way for tough enforcement when prohibited persons attempt to buy guns, and it also will deter many from trying in the first place," Feuer said Monday.
Under his proposal, anybody trying to purchase a gun inside city limits would have to agree to be fingerprinted first.
The prints apparently would be kept on file and later utilized by prosecutors to help identify ex-cons trying to procure firearms.
According to Feuer's office, there have been 5,000 such instances statewide in the last year, but prosecutors have failed to bring solid cases against the suspects because of questions about their identities.
The councilman believes that fingerprinting "will help prosecutors win convictions of potentially dangerous criminals who illegally attempt to buy firearms."
Sam Paredes, Executive Director of Gun Owners of California, says that Feuer and those sympathetic to his proposal have a lot to learn about state law and citizens' rights.
"The council panel has just looked at state law and completely ignored it," Paredes told Channel 2000 Monday.
"In California, we have what's called a preemption law. Under its provisions, the whole area of regulation of firearms ownership is usurped by the state.
"This is not the purview of local communities. And that's so we don't have a checkerboard of laws on firearms from one locality to another. The state is the guiding light in these matters."
According to Paredes, the state attorney general has an obligation to step in and stop the city of Los Angeles from trying to enforce a measure like the one proposed by Feuer.
If Sacramento doesn't get involved, Paredes told Channel 2000 that his organization and other pro-self-defense groups will challenge fingerprinting.
"We'll go to court ourselves," he said.
As for what Paredes thinks of Feuer's proposal in general….
"It's hokum! In reality, it's a whole bunch of smoke. It's what I like to call 'slogan legislation.' It sounds good.
"They're pushing this piece of legislation [fingerprinting gun owners] whether it has any impact or not.
"There's no secret that L.A. wants fewer gun owners in city limits. And what better way to intimidate people than have them fingerprinted or photographed?"
Paredes told Channel 2000 that gun owners already undergo background checks and fill out pages of state and federal forms before they can purchase a firearm.
He added that "law-abiding" citizens shouldn't be fingerprinted like common criminals when they wish to avail themselves of their Second Amendment right.
Copyright 2001 by Channel 2000. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.