Firearms owners will soon be required to place trigger locks on guns in their homes, or store them in locked gun safes, to reduce the possibility that a loaded weapon can end up in the hands of someone not familiar with safe firearm handling—or someone with ill intent, either to themselves or to others.
As developed by city staff under Police Chief Matt Jenkins, the Safe Firearms Storage Ordinance, section 9.16.060 of the Healdsburg Municipal Code, requires in brief that “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 simple intent of the ordinance is to “decrease the risk of harm to children and the entire community from unauthorized access to firearms.”
When he introduced it at the June 20 meeting, Jenkins pointed out that similar ordinances have been implemented in “at least 20 California municipalities to bolster firearm safety in the home,” listing Berkeley, Los Angeles, Moraga, Napa, Oakland, Palm Springs and Petaluma, among others.
At the meeting, the Healdsburg’s City Council voted unanimously to add the Safe Firearms Storage Ordinance to city code. The vote followed two earlier meetings that discussed the issue in light of persistent gun violence and mass murders.
One of those incidents was the March 27 killing of six at a Nashville school, where one of the victims was Evelyn Dieckhaus, niece of Healdsburg BloodRoot winery co-owner Kelly Dorrance.
Following that tragedy, Dorrance and several of her friends contacted the council asking for action on the issue of gun violence. Said Councilmember Chris Herrod, “Kelly was the impetus, and I would guess that friends and acquaintances of hers followed her lead.”
Herrod first asked the council to consider such an ordinance at their April 3 meeting, just a few days after the Nashville tragedy. After some hesitation, the council agreed to add it to a coming agenda.
A month later, on May 1, the council more fully discussed the issue and voted to ask city staff to bring a draft ordinance back to them. That is what was presented to the council on June 20, their last meeting before a month-long summer break in July.
The ordinance also requires that gun owners notify the Healdsburg Police Department within 48 hours “of the time the person suspected or knew that the firearm had been stolen or lost,” when the gun owner is a Healdsburg resident or the loss of the firearm occurred in the city.
In a surprise and welcome announcement, Jenkins told the council that just the previous day, he received a promise from Project ChildSafe to provide free trigger locks. Jenkins requested 500 from the organization, which is a program of the National Shooting Sports Foundation. At the meeting, he could not confirm how many would be delivered to Healdsburg, or when.
Symbolic or Effective?
In reviewing the proposed ordinance, Jenkins said it would complement the state’s safe storage laws that only require safe storage “when children or prohibited persons could access them.” Prohibited persons are those who legally cannot own or operate firearms, usually as a result of conviction, probation or other court ruling.
This led to the perception that such an ordinance would be primarily “symbolic,” a sentiment reinforced by Jenkins’ statement that enforcement would only come as a result of another law enforcement action, such as a search for a different violation or investigation of a crime. In other words, the police won’t be going into homes to check for compliance.
Councilmember Ron Edwards, who stressed the need for “education” as a cornerstone of any gun control measure, asked questions related to the possibility that a homeowner might find a trigger-locked gun less easily accessible in case of immediate need.
Mayor Ariel Kelley asked the police chief about the frequency of such home invasions.
“The best answer I can give you right now is infrequent,” Jenkins said. “I can think of a few over a 20 year period, but again you can’t quote me on that number right now.” The number of firearms accidents and unintentional shootings over a similar period was not addressed.
In public comment, Stefan Perez, of Petaluma, who identified himself as chairperson of Sonoma County Gun Owners, a chapter of the California Rifle & Pistol Association, called in at two successive meetings to raise objections over the trigger-lock method of gun storage.
“I don’t believe this ordinance addresses either education, training or keeping people safe,” he said. He cited the example of an elderly war veteran who may have trouble unlocking a trigger-locked gun in case of home invasion. Loaded guns can be stored in safes, and Perez encouraged the city to purchase safes for all gun-owners in Healdsburg.
Even though Councilmember Evelyn Mitchell, who said she never was a gun owner and never would be, regarded the new ordinance as largely symbolic, she voted in favor of the ordinance. “The fact is if it saves one life or one tragedy … then it’s worth it. It’s well worth it,” said Mitchell.
Of the ordinance, Kelley said, “There is an alarming amount of gun violence in our country. While there is not just one quick fix, we know the way we make our community safer is to adopt multiple policies and actions that are proven to decrease gun violence.”
Councilmember Herrod had an observation following the vote and public discussion. “It should be mentioned that all those who approached me and who attended the council meetings, were women. Many are mothers.”
For her part, Dorrance recognized the small step that safe storage represents.“The passage of safe storage is symbolic more than anything, but any movement on the issue that applies common sense responsibility to gun ownership I welcome with open arms,” said Dorrance following the vote.
“Safe storage is a small, basic step in the right direction. Guns have become the number one killer of children in this country,” she said. “This is a heart-breaking, sad and embarrassing statistic.”
In the wake of the Nashville tragedy, Kelly Dorrance and her husband, Noah Dorrance, started crowdsourced funding programs through Instagram and Wine Country Unites, and raised over $200,000 for Everytown for Gun Safety, a national nonprofit organization advocating for gun control and against gun violence.
They also founded Light Catchers to help raise funds in memory of Evelyn Dieckhaus, including $9,150 for Voices for Safer Tennessee raised at their recent BloodRoot Ramble.
This ordinance does nothing to decrease violence or make it safer for the citizens of Healdsburg. It is nothing more than a symbolic vote to make them sleep better at night thinking they have made a difference.
Direct violation of the 2nd Amendment. Yes, I agree to keep firearms safe and secure from children and others. As for me, my gun stays where it is, in my night stand and at the ready if needed, not locked up were I would have to unlock the safe and load it while the invader is coming at me when I’m not able to defend myself.