Movement To Ban Firearms In San Francisco By Carolyn Tyler

[tricknologist]

Movement To Ban Firearms In San Francisco (http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=elections&id=3597947)

By Carolyn Tyler

When you go to the polls one week from today, state propositions aren't the only measures some voters face. There are local issues as well. In San Francisco, voters will decide whether to try to ban guns in the city.

Pat Barsetti owns a Smith and Wesson.

Pat Barsetti, gun owner: "This has always given me a sense of protection."

She would be forced to give up her gun if Proposition H passes.

Four San Francisco supervisors put the measure on the ballot. It prohibits "residents from possessing handguns" in the city and bans "the manufacture, distribution, sale and transfer of firearms and ammunition" in the city.

Chris Daly is the chief sponsor, motivated in part by the shooting death of 15-year-old Scharod Fleming outside a Tenderloin YMCA last year.

Chris Daly, San Francisco supervisor: "If we can get handguns, some of the handguns out of the hands of some of the criminals, then we'll make a small dent in some of the homicides and that is the intent of this legislation."

Guy Smith monitors and writes about gun control nationwide. He says Washington, D.C. and Chicago have bans and they don't work.

Guy Smith, gun expert: "Washington, D.C. has been the homicide capitol of America for 14 of the last 15 years."

But in Bayview Hunters Point, a neighborhood plagued with violence, Shawn Richard has founded a group called brothers against guns. He thinks Prop H could make a difference.

Shawn Richard, Brothers Against Guns: "Uzis or Mac 10s, stuff like that is being used on the streets of San Francisco that are only supposed to be used for the war. How are they getting in here? So I'm supportive of this ban on these guns."

The San Francisco Police Officers Association isn't. Cops say the bad guys will always have weapons, ordinary citizens will be vulnerable.

Gary Delagnes, Police Officers Association: "To basically send a message to every criminal in San Francisco that 'hey, if I'm a burglar or a robber and I want to climb in somebody's window, I'm pretty self assured there won't be a weapon in there."

Prop H allows police to carry weapons, but only while on duty. This retired officer worries about what might happen in an emergency, like a major earthquake.

Larry Barsetti, Coalition Against Prohibition: "A good percentage of our officers still live outside the city and those who live here will be disarmed. It makes absolutely no sense."

If voters okay the ban, it would take effect in January and residents would have another 90 days after that to turn in their guns. Keep in mind, opponents are already planning a legal challenge if the measure passes.

[Starr]

But in Bayview Hunters Point, a neighborhood plagued with violence, Shawn Richard has founded a group called brothers against guns. He thinks Prop H could make a difference.

Yes, criminals will keep their guns and a large amount of the law abiding will be unarmed, yes what a positive difference that would make.:rolleyes: Is it too much to hope that if this actually passes "Shawn Richard" will become a victim of gun violence?

San Francisco. Maybe this will cut down ever so slightly on crimes of passion. As in what might happen if a guy were to find his boyfriend with another man.:(

[Starr]

I am a little shocked that it actually happened. Justice would be somewhat served if it became open season on the morons who voted in favor of this:

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Voters in famously liberal San Francisco overwhelmingly approved measures banning handguns and encouraging schools to keep military recruiters off campus, according to election results on Wednesday.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting results from Tuesday's election, Measure H, which prohibits San Franciscans from owning handguns and bans the sale of all firearms and ammunition in the city, passed with 57.9 percent of the vote.

The National Rifle Association responded by filing a lawsuit challenging the measure in state court, noting it is preempted by federal and state laws and that the same state court had invalidated San Francisco's last attempt to impose a ban on handguns.

Lawful residents of San Francisco are being stripped of their freedom because of an illegal measure that defies common sense,"(common sense? what is that? it doesn't seem to exist too much anymore) association vice-president Wayne LaPierre said in statement. "I believe that we will prevail,"

Measure I, a largely symbolic "declaration of policy that the people of San Francisco oppose the federal government's use of public schools to recruit students for service in the military," passed with 59.7 percent of votes.

The measure will have no effect on military recruiters as they are allowed on school grounds under federal law, according to U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, a spokeswoman for the U.S.

[Jimbo Gomez]

I support this measure. These sodomites should be unarmed in order to facilitate their removal from the face of the earth.

[Crowley]

It is a ban on handguns, not all guns.

[Jimbo Gomez]

Hello bardamu, welcome back.

It's the first step on a slippery slope.

[Crowley]

Well thank you.