City Council Agenda and Packet 2022 06 07

Home Browse Search

WHEREAS, studies show that the federal assault weapon ban resulted in a marked decrease in the use of assault weapons and large -capacity magazines in crime. One study found that in several major cities, the share of recovered crime guns that were assault weapons declined by 32% to 40% after the federal ban was adopted. Another study in Virginia found a clear decline in the percentage of crime guns that were equipped with large -capacity magazines after the federal ban was enacted. The percentage of guns seized by Virginia police reached a low of 10% in 2004 and then steadily climbed after Congress allowed the ban to expire; by 2010, the percentage was close to 22%; and WHEREAS, the federal law restricting assault weapon and large -capacity magazines also had a significant protective effect in lowering mass shooting fatalities. During the 10-year period the law was in effect, mass shooting fatalities were 70% less likely to occur compared to when the ban wasn't in effect. In addition, the number of high -fatality mass shootings fell by 37%, and the number of people dying in such shootings fell by 43%. After the ban lapsed, there was a 183% increase in high -fatality mass shootings and a 239% increase in deaths from such shootings; and WHEREAS, state -level prohibitions on large -capacity magazines have been shown to reduce the frequency and lethality of the deadliest mass shootings —strong evidence that regional and local legislation can be effective even absent a federal ban. A peer -reviewed study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that "states without an LCM ban experienced significantly more high -fatality mass shootings and a higher death rate from such incidents," seeing more than double the number of such shootings and three times the number of deaths from high -fatality mass shootings, as compared to states that ban large -capacity magazines; and WHEREAS, survey data and gun -industry supplied statistics suggest that, at most, only a small fraction of U.S. gun owners possess semiautomatic assault rifles and private ownership of these weapons is concentrated in the hands of super -owners who have 10 or more firearms. Similar claims about the ubiquity of large -capacity magazines is contradicted by the fact that most magazines for handguns —the "quintessential self-defense weapon," see District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570, 629 (2008)—hold 10 rounds or fewer; and WHEREAS, because assault weapons, trigger activators, and large -capacity magazines are designed for and have repeatedly been used to inflict mass casualties and enable other violent crimes, and the fact that these weapons and accessories are ill -suited to and unnecessary for responsible self-defense, and are not chosen or used by most law-abiding gun owners for this purpose, City Council finds that it is in the best interests of the health, safety, and welfare of Louisville residents to prohibit the possession, sale, manufacture, and transfer of assault weapons, rapid-fire trigger activators, and large -capacity magazines; and WHEREAS, this ordinance recognizes the enactment of Senate Bill 21-256 and is intended to be consistent with that law. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LOUISVILLE, COLORADO: Ordinance No. 1831 Series 2022 Page 4 of 12 14