HomeMy Public PortalAboutOrd. 1320
ORDINANCE NO. 89-1320
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LYNWOOD APPROVING
AND ADOPTING REGULATIONS FOR THE CONTROL OF THE SALE OF ASSAULT
WEAPONS.
WIIERF.~1S, the City Council of the City of Lynwood (the "City Council")
has met and has studied news reports and police reports pertaining to the abuse
of assault weapons in the communities of the south-central Los Angeles Basin (the
"Inner Cities"), including the City of Lynwood; and
WHEREA.4, such abuse relates particularly to the use of such weapons in
gang activity in these areas; and
WHEREAS, research has determined that the number of crimes and heinousness
of these crimes has increased alarmingly as lax laws have eased restrictions and
made it increasingly easier for gang members and criminals to purchase assault
weapons which have no conceivable purpose other than the senseless destruction of
human life; and
WIIEE2EAS, the purpose and intent of the City Council with respect to control
of the sale of assault weapons is to accomplish the following:
a) To restrict the hours of operation of all stores within city limits
which sell firearms, with the intent of limiting impulse-purchase of weapons and
the purchase of weapons by those acting under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol;
b) To impose upon all who desire to purchase semi-automatic weapons in
this City a waiting period before purchase can be made, with the intent to further
limit impulse purchasing; and
c) To require that certain parties be notified of the intended purchase
of an assault weapon, with the intent that proper officials and agencies be notified
of the purchase of weapons, so that these officials and agencies can take appropriate
actions;
NOW, THEREFORE, in order to implement and facilitate the Purpose and Intent
of this Ordinance, the City Council hereby orders, approves and adopts the Weapons
Control Ordinance, as follows:
Section 1. No business establishment located within the boundaries of
this City will be permitted to sell firearms of any kind except between the hours
of 9:00 A.M. and 9:00 P.M.;
Section 2. It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, exchange, give,
loan or possess any assault weapon within the limits of the City. It shall further
be unlawful for the driver or owner of any vehicle to knowingly permit the presence
of an assault weapon in such vehicle within the City.
(a) Subject to Subsection (c), the term "assault weapon" as used in this
Section, shall include:
1. any semiautomatic action, center fire rifle or carbine which accepts
a detachable magazine with a capacity of twenty rounds or more, including but not
limited to the following firearms or their copies: AR 15 semiautomatic assault rifles,
Uzi semiautomatic assault rifles or carbines, Ingram Mac-10 semiautomatic assault
carbines, Ingram Mac-11 semiautomatic assault carbines, Heckler and Y.och 93 semiauto-
matic assault rifles, Heckler and Koch 91 semiautomatic assault rifles, AK-47 semi-
automatic assault rifles, AKM-47 semiautomatic assault rifles, all Automat Kalashnikov
weapons, M1-A semiautomatic assault rifles, M-14 semiautomatic assault rifles,
Thompson semiautomatic carbines and any other semiautomatic carbines manufactured
by Auto Ordinance;
2. any shotguns with a barrel of less than 18 inches and a folding stock
or magazine capacity of more than six rounds;
3. any weapon which may be readily restored to an operable assault weapon,
as defined above in 1 and 2; and
4. any part, or combination of parts, designed or intended to convert
a weapon into an assault weapon, as defined above in 1 and 2, or any combination
of parts from which an assault weapon may be readily assembled, if those parts are
in the possession or under the control of the same person.
(b) As used in this Section, the term "semiautomatic" means a weapon which
fires a single projectile for each single pull of the trigger and which employs a
magazine.
(c) The term "assault weapon" does not include any of the following:
1. any of the above generally and specifically described weapons which
is a "machine qun" as that term is defined by Section 12200 of the Penal Code of
the State of California; any pistol, revolver or other firearm which is capable of
being concealed upon one's person, as defined and regulated by the provisions of
Sections 12025 of the Penal Code of the State of California;
2. any of the following: weapons which do not use fixed ammunition, weapons
which were manufactured prior to 1898, manually operated bolt action weapons, lever
action weapons, slide action weapons, single-shot weapons, multiple-barrel weapons,
revolving cylinder weapons, semiautomatic weapons which use exclusively Mannlicher-
style clips, semiautomatic weapons manufactured prior to 1954, rim-fire weapons that
employ a tubular magazine;
3. any assault weapon which is an antique or relic firearm or other weapon
falling within the specifications of paragraphs (5), (7) and (8) of Subsection (b)
of Section 12020 of the Penal Code of the State of California;
4. any short-barreled rifle or shotgun as defined in Subsection (c) of
Penal Code Section 12020; or
5. any assault weapon which has been modified either to render it
permanently inoperable or to permanently make it a device no longer defined as an
assault weapon.
(d) ESccept as specified in Subsections (e), (f ), and (g), no person,
including wholesale and retail gun dealers, shall sell, offer or display for sale,
give, lend or transfer ownership of, or possess any assault weapon.
(e) Nothing in this Section shall prohibit the acquisition, possession,
or disposition by police departments, sheriff's offices, marshal's offices, the
California Highway Patrol, other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies,
or the military and naval forces of this state or of the United States for use in
the discharge of their official duties; nor shall anything in this Section prohibit
the possession of assault weapons or magazines therefor by regular, salaried, full-
time officers, employees or agents thereof when on duty and the use of assault weapons
is within the scope of their duties.
(f) The provisions of this Section shall not apply to the possession of
any assault weapon when such possession is prohibited by the provisions of Section
12031 of the Penal Code of the State of California or Section 2010 of the Fish and
Game Code of the State of California.
(g) Nothwithstanding the provisions of Subsection (d) of this Section:
1. any person who obtains title to an assault weapon by bequest or intes-
tate succession may retain possession for a period of time not to exceed six months,
and shall within that time transfer title of the weapon to a dealer licensed pursuant
to Article 4 of the State of California Penal Code, coimnencing at Section 12250,
or to the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department or other police agency;
2. An assault weapon may be maintained in the possession of an entity
or establishment engaged in the business of motion picture, television or video
production, but only for the purpose of being utilized as a prop during the course
of motion picture, television or video production by an authorized participant therein
or by an authorized agent or employee of the entity or establishment, and only if
the entity or establishment properly secures such assault weapon from unauthorized
use; and
3. an assault weapon may be possessed by any federal, state or local
historical society, museum or institutional collection which is open to the public,
provided any such weapon is properly housed, secured from unauthorized handling and
is unloaded;
Section 3. Where no waiting period is already in effect, pursuant to any
other provision of law, there is hereby instituted a fifteen (15) day waiting period
between the time that application is made for the sale of any firearm within the
City and the time that such weapon may be given to the purchaser; and
Section 4. Upon application of an individual to purchase any firearm in
this City, notice will be sent to the following:
(a) the City Manager;
(b) the chief of law enforcement officer of this City; and, where
applicable;
(c) the Probation or Parole Officer of the person so purchasing.
Section 5. If any part of this Ordinance is held to be invalid for any
reason, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portion of this
Ordinance, and this Council hereby declares that it would have passed the remainder
of the Ordinance if such invalid portion therefore had been deleted.
Section 6. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect thirty ( 30 )
days after passage.
Section 7. That the City Council has determined the passage of this
Ordinance to be an emergency within the meaning of the Lynwood Municipal Code and
other state and .federal statutes and necessary for the purpose of preserving the
health, safety and welfare of Lynwood Citizens due to mounting violence in the City
resulting from the use of assault weapons.
APPROVID AND ADOPTID by the City Council of the City of Lynwood this
~Lday of F6~. 1989. ///~ ~~'
G~/ 71~.~i~r.
EVELYN WEDS, Mayor
City of Lynwood
ATTEST:
~~
ANDREA L. HOOPER, City C1 t
APPROVED AS TO CONTENT;
~~) ~/
CHARLES G. GOMEZ, City Manager