City Council Agenda and Packet 2022 06 07

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SUBJECT: GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION ORDINANCES, SECOND READING DATE: JUNE 7, 2022 PAGE 2 OF 4 DATE: JUNE 7, 2022 PRESENTED BY: KATHLEEN KELLY, CITY ATTORNEY SUMMARY: On May 17, 2022, the City Council adopted on first reading six ordinances enacting new firearms regulations that comport with § 29-11.7-103, C.R.S. If adopted on second reading, the ordinances would ban trigger activators, confirm that the legal age to possess firearms in Louisville is 21, restrict the possession of firearms that lack serial numbers ("ghost guns"), regulate the open carry of firearms in sensitive places, require certain signage at firearms dealers, and impose a waiting period on the purchase of firearms. As was noted in the May 17, 2022 Council Communication, we have proposed second reading amendments to the proposed ordinances to reflect changes made in the ordinances adopted by the Boulder City Council on first reading on May 24, 2022. These second reading amendments are shown in the text of each ordinances by bold underline (for text added) and bold stroke (for text deleted). BACKGROUND: On March 22, 2021, a shooter armed with a semi -automatic Ruger AR-556 pistol killed 10 people at the King Soopers on Table Mesa Drive in Boulder. In response to this shooting and a district court ruling that Boulder's ordinances governing assault weapons and large capacity magazines impermissibly conflicted with state law, the state legislature repealed the state's preemption statute. State law now expressly allows municipalities to enact firearms regulations stricter than those found in state statutes. The purpose of the proposed ordinances is to enact new regulations in compliance with the state statute and to expand Louisville's efforts to prevent gun violence. Assault weapons are semi -automatic firearms designed with military features to allow rapid spray firing for the quick and efficient killing of humans. An automatic weapon is one that fires multiple rounds with a single pull of the trigger. A semi -automatic weapon fires only one round per trigger pull, but automatically loads a round after each shot. Assault weapons are civilian versions of military weapons. For example, the difference between an AR-15 and its military counterpart the M-16, is that the M-16 is an automatic weapon while the AR-15 is a semi -automatic weapon. The AR-15 requires the shooter to pull the trigger for each round that is fired. Fully automatic weapons are banned by federal law. The automatic firing mechanism does not present a significant increase in the lethality of the M-16 when compared to the AR-15. The military trains its personnel to use repeated single shots, which are more accurate. Military training is for personnel to shoot at 12 to 15 rounds per minute or one round every four to five seconds. CITY COUNCIL COMMUNICATION Efl