TELL THE SAN JOSE CITY COUNCIL TO ACCEPT SVPAF ALTERNATE LANGUAGE
5/10/2022 ITEM 4.1

SUBJECT:

Item 4.1 - 22-660 Privately Made Firearm Ordinance

EMAIL BODY:

Mayor, City Council, and Staff,

I have read through the ordinance and believe it is too far overreaching and burdensome on San Joseans.  I oppose the ordinance as written and ask you to modify it with the revisions detailed below for acceptance.

The City Council direction stated, “Ghost Guns: Direct the City Attorney to craft a prohibition on the possession, assembly, and manufacturing of any untraceable gun lacking a serial number, in collaboration with partner organizations such as Brady United and Gifford Law Center, to cover gaps in California state prohibitions, most of which do not take effect until July 2022.”

The ordinance as written will not stop any criminals who wish to violate the law.  It does create a new law addressing Council’s direction, however it does so by taking away the constitutionally protected rights of individuals to privately manufacture their own firearms in a legal manner.  We have re-written the ordinance to only focus on “ghost guns” and which also preserves the rights of law-abiding residents in our city to legally privately manufacture their own firearm.

Finally, there are distinctions between illegally made firearms without serial numbers, firearms that are legally made at home, and defaced firearms which were legally manufactured but the serial number has been illegally removed by a criminal.

Problems with Ordinance as written:

The ordinance uses terms and creates definitions that are not factually accurate.  Examples:

1. "'Privately Manufactured Firearm' means any finished firearm that is assembled from (1) unfinished frames or receivers or (2) printed from a 3-dimensional (“3-D”) printer."

1. “’Unfinished Frame or Receiver’ means a piece of any material that does not constitute the finished frame or receiver of a firearm, rifle, or shotgun but that has been shaped or formed in any way to become the frame or receiver of a firearm, rifle, or shotgun, and

   1. which may readily be made into a functional frame or receiver through milling, drilling, or other means; or

   2. is marketed or sold to the public to become or be used as the frame or receiver of a functional firearm once completed, assembled or converted.”

The ordinance incorrectly sets the background in the WHEREAS section with bias towards those who exercise their Second Amendment rights.  Examples:

1. "WHEREAS, Privately Manufactured Firearms, sometimes referred to as “ghost guns,” are untraceable and unregulated firearms that are often assembled by unlicensed individuals using build-it-yourself kits;" (Incorrect statement because ghost guns are PMF’s that are illegally constructed.  This sentence makes it sound like all PMF’s are illegal, which is not the case)

2. WHEREAS, assembling the parts into a lethal Privately Manufactured Firearm can readily be done by untrained persons using common household tools; and (bias is implied with “lethal” adjective)

All Privately Made Firearms Are Not Ghost Guns

PMF’s fall into several categories, but we have separated them into Legal and Illegal.  A PMF can be illegal for several reasons, but we categorized it as Traceable vs Untraceable.  The council direction specifically wants staff to develop an ordinance on untraceable PMF’s, aka ghost guns.

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Revisions to ordinance – deliver on the specific council direction:

10.32.260 Purpose and Intent

The purpose of this law is to protect public safety, reduce gun violence, and make the City safer from individuals who create Untraceable Privately Manufactured Firearms, including Readily Convertible Unfinished Frames or Unfinished Receivers.

"WHEREAS, “Ghost guns,” are unregulated and Untraceable Privately Made Firearms that are often assembled by unlicensed individuals using build-it-yourself kits;"

WHEREAS, assembling the parts into a lethal Untraceable Privately Manufactured Firearm can readily be done by untrained persons using common household tools; and

10.32.270 Definitions

"Privately Manufactured Firearm” means any privately made firearm. A firearm, including a frame or receiver, completed, assembled, or otherwise produced by a person other than a licensed manufacturer.

"Untraceable Privately Manufactured Firearm” means any Privately Manufactured Firearm as defined above, that is completed and has not been imprinted with a serial number issued by a Federal Firearms Importer or Manufacturer, or has not been engraved or permanently affixed with a serial number provided by the California Department of Justice.  

“Readily Convertible Unfinished Frame or Receiver” means a partially complete, disassembled, or nonfunctional frame or receiver, including those that have been three-dimensionally (“3-D”) printed, that has reached a stage in manufacture where it may quickly and easily (“readily”) be made to function as a “frame or receiver” and expressly excludes a block of metal, liquid polymers and other raw materials or a frame or receiver that has been destroyed.

10.32.280 Prohibitions on Readily Convertible Unfinished Receivers and Frames

Prohibition. It shall be unlawful for any person to possess, sell, offer to sell, transfer, purchase, transport, receive, or Manufacture any Readily Convertible Unfinished Frame or Receiver, unless either (1) the person possessing, transporting, or receiving the Unfinished Frame or Receiver is a Federal Firearms Importer or Manufacturer, or (2) the Readily Convertible Unfinished Frame or Receiver is either required by federal law to be and has been imprinted with a serial number issued by a Federal Firearms Importer or Manufacturer, or has been engraved or permanently affixed with a serial number provided by the California Department of Justice…

10.32.290 Prohibition on Untraceable Privately Manufactured Firearms

Prohibition. It shall be unlawful for any person to possess, sell, offer to sell, transfer, purchase, transport, receive, or Manufacture a Privately Manufactured Firearm that does not conform to state and federal law, unless either (1) the person possessing, transporting, or receiving the Unfinished Frame or Receiver is a Federal Firearms Importer or Manufacturer, or (2) the Unfinished Frame or Receiver is either required by federal law to be and has been imprinted with a serial number issued by a Federal Firearms Importer or Manufacturer, or has been engraved or permanently affixed with a serial number provided by the California Department of Justice…

10.32.300 Prohibition on Manufacturing Non-Serialized Firearms

(No changes suggested)

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Please accept all changes to the proposed ordinance for adoption on May 10, 2022.

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Sincerely,

Your Constituent 

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