San Fran Ban

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors wants to ban guns in the city! This week, the Supervisors submitted a proposal to the Department of Elections that will ask residents of San Francisco to vote next year on a proposed gun ban that would strip law-abiding citizens of their Constitutionally-guaranteed Right to Keep and Bear Arms. The measure would abrogate the right of any citizen to own a handgun for any reason. Only law enforcement officers, members of the military, and security guards would be allowed to possess them. The measure would also completely ban the sale, manufacture, and distribution of all handguns and ammunition in San Francisco, as well as the transfer of gun licenses. If passed next November, city residents would be forced to surrender their firearms within 90 days.

According to Bill Barnes, an aide to Supervisor Chris Daly (Dist.-6), "The hope is...that officers will have an opportunity to interact with folks and if they have a handgun, that will be reason enough to confiscate it."

In 1982, San Francisco enacted a similar ordinance which also purported to ban all handguns. That measure, with the help of NRA and its members, was eventually struck down.

Ironically, Washington, D.C., a city that effectively bans the right to self defense with a firearm, has one of the highest rates of violent crime in the nation. As such, San Francisco officials would be remiss to use the District of Columbia`s gun-ban experience as a model.

According to the anti-gunners` logic, if gun bans worked, Washington, D.C. would be one of the safest cities in America. In reality, the District holds the notorious distinction of being the murder capital of the United States.

As for the District`s draconian gun ban, on September 29, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the "District of Columbia Personal Protection Act--" legislation that seeks to restore the right of self-protection to law-abiding citizens of Washington, D.C. HR 3193, was introduced by Representatives Mark Souder (R-Ind.) and Mike Ross (D-Ark.), and passed on a bi-partisan vote of 250-171. The bill is the House companion to Senate bill S. 1414, introduced by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).

Please contact your U.S. Representative and Senators and urge them to cosponsor and support this legislation in the 109th congress. You can find contact information for your elected officials by using the "Write Your Representatives" tool at www.NRAILA.org, or you can call your U.S. Senators at (202) 224-3121.