Despite pleas for stronger action, the Los Angeles City Council moved Tuesday to ban the sale of some high-caliber bullets and to require a permit and background check for anyone buying ammunition in the city.
Council members Mike Hernandez and Nick Pacheco urged a ban on the sale of all ammunition, saying it would help reduce gun violence plaguing their districts. Hernandez cited 300 drive-by shootings this year, and two killings in Hollenbeck Division bars during the past week.
"Our reality is, it's not the guns that are killing people, it's the ammunition," Hernandez said. "A partial ban is not going to deal with the issue of what makes me feel safe in my home."
Ismael Ileto also urged a total ban, telling the council such a ban would reduce gun violence like the 1999 slaying of his brother, postal carrier Joseph Ileto, by a white supremacist in Chatsworth.
"We all know the devastating effects of violence and guns," Ileto said. "The killer of my brother Joseph, who claims he had serious mental illness, was still able to purchase and amass hundreds and thousands of [rounds of] ammunition and guns."
A spokesman for the National Rifle Assn., which opposed both the full and partial ban as well as the proposed permit program, said preliminary estimates from the Sports Arms Manufacturers Institute indicate a partial ban may outlaw 70% of ammunition available in the city.
The vote for a complete ban fell short, 5 to 7, with Hernandez, Pacheco, Alex Padilla, Rita Walters and Mark Ridley-Thomas in the minority supporting the ban.
With the total ban proposal rejected, Hernandez and Pacheco joined their colleagues in asking the city attorney to draft a compromise ordinance that would ban certain high-caliber "offensive" ammunition, require permits and an annual 10-day waiting period and criminal background check for anyone buying ammunition in Los Angeles.
Council members Cindy Miscikowski and Mike Feuer argued a complete ban might not survive a court challenge, and said requiring permits and background checks would make the city safer.
"Criminals and kids should not get their hands on tools of violence, on guns or ammunition," said Feuer, who estimated up to 100,000 people buy ammunition in the city annually. The group Women Against Gun Violence also supported the proposed partial ban and permit.
Los Angeles already requires purchasers of ammunition to provide a thumbprint and signature.
