Council Holsters Firearms Dealers; 'Gun Nuts' Outgunned by Vocal Emeryville Citizens

A duel over proposed gun regulations Tuesday ended in victory for proponents of regulation.
Rules keeping children out of a proposed firearms store, and requiring the owner to bar felons and those with mental health issues from employment were tentatively approved Tuesday after a tense and well attended meeting. A final vote is scheduled to occur next month.
The ordinance was approved after language regulating the sale of ammunition was stripped from the proposal. Officials were told that such language could expose the city to a lawsuit.

More than 50 out-of-town gun zealots stormed the meeting Tuesday night intending to foil the proposal through force of reason and numbers. But they were countered and disarmed by a wall of unified Emeryville residents arguing in favor of the modest regulations. The issue rose to prominence after a proposal to open a firearms and ammunition retailer on San Pablo Avenue---next to Emery High School---emerged.

In all, 50 people from out of town thundered against the ordinance while 27 mostly Emeryville residents, spoke in favor. One Emeryville resident was against the ordinance. Gun law opponents argued that federal and state laws already regulate firearms and thus municipalities can't add their own restrictions. Yet, many in the group acknowledged that other businesses are regulated in Emeryville. Proponents insisted that the proposed ordinance went no further than ordinary rules binding other types of businesses. Gun rights advocates meanwhile insisted that gun stores must not be regulated in any way.

Verbal tactics employed by those opposed to the regulations mainly centered on threats of litigation peppered with many disrespectful insults directed at the council and residents. In a bizarre moment, charges of racism appeared; one gun enthusiast noted that the council is "white" and admonished them for taking guns away from "black people".

The thrust of the pro-gun argument was that the ordinance prohibits gun stores in Emeryville and that infringes on the second amendment to the Constitution.

City Attorney Michael Biddle, who has been chided in the past for his low caliber legal work that has repeatedly ricocheted into costly verdicts against the city, reminded attendees that the proposed ordinance does not prohibit any gun stores from opening. Mr. Biddle maintained that the proposal is a limited and reasonable set of guidelines gun store owners must abide by. Police Chief Ken James has likened the proposed gun store regulations rules already applied to other businesses such as catering trucks and massage parlors.

Gun lobbyists were partially successful with warnings of an impending lawsuit. The council ultimately approved parts of the ordinance pertaining to guns sellers but removed language regulating ammunition sales. Mr Biddle cited a letter from an attorney representing the gunners that made reference to a pending high level case in another jurisdiction as reason to postpone the ammo part of the new ordinance. The council agreed that exposure to lawsuits from pro-gun groups was not something to trifle with. The meat and potatoes of the ordinance however remained intact.

Heat and Light
The gun enthusiasts pre-meeting web based conspiracies to intimidate residents and others amenable to the ordinance failed. Their expectations of cowering and outnumbered proponents seems to have been the gunner's Waterloo. They expressed dismay at the large resident turnout and the heavy police presence at the meeting. They had planned a program of highly visible up close photo taking of speakers as a means of further intimidation but were met with residents with their own cameras. No one it seems was intimidated.

The council is slated to resolve this issue at the meeting on April 6 at City Hall with a second and final vote. The gunners have proclaimed their intentions to ramp up their presence at that meeting.