Mr. R. Dotson
[ My Address]
[City,  State  ]

Dear Mr. Dotson:

Thank you for contacting my office regarding gun shows. I appreciate it and the opportunity to explain my position.

First, the ordinance, adopted by the Board on a 3-2 vote, violates the contracts clause of the Fifth Amendment and the federal court's ruling in Nordyke v. Santa Clara County. Prior to the introduction of the ordinance, contracts for gun shows in October, December and February had already been signed. Our Board cannot nullify those existing contracts without being financially liable.

In the Nordyke v. Santa Clara County case, the Federal District Court of Appeal ruled that a county Board of Supervisors cannot prohibit gun shows at a county facility if that facility is leased to a private vendor. Our county fairgrounds are leased to Fairplex, which contracts for all shows and exhibitions at the fairgrounds. The Board of Supervisors cannot legally interfere with the contracting decisions of Fairplex under the federal court ruling.

In their arguments in favor of the ordinance, the proponents also made many false accusations. For example, machine guns and assault weapons cannot be legally obtained at gun shows or in gun stores in California. The same laws which apply to sales through gun dealers apply to sales at gun shows. All licensed dealers at a gun show must obtain a federal and a state dealer's license. All firearms transactions at a gun show are subject to a criminal backqround check, a ten day waitinq period, and all buyers must be of a minimum aqe. There are no "cash and carry" transactions for modern firearms at a gun show.

Gun show promoters and vendors at the county fairgrounds are required to work hand-in-hand with law enforcement to make the shows as safe as possible. Law enforcement from the Department of Justice down to the Pomona Police Department declared that the last gun show in Pomona was one of the best run security operations ever.

Contrary to the reports from the proponents, the Los Angeles Police Department has confirmed that none of the guns used in the 1997 North Hollywood shootout were traced to purchases at Los Angeles area gun shows. A 1995 report from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms states that California laws are so strict that gun shows in the state are not a significant source of crime guns. Over ninety-nine percent of persons attending Gun shows are law abiding citizens.

Regarding guns and violence, the crazed, hate filled actions of Bufford Furrow, a follower of the racist National Socialist Workers philosophy, who murdered the Chatsworth postal employee and shot the children and staff at the West Valley Jewish Community Center was a convicted felon in the state of Washington. The District Attorney on the case allowed him to plea bargain his last conviction to a lower penalty, which meant less time in prison. As a result of that conviction, Mr. Furrow was required by the court to surrender all of his firearms. However, this court order was not enforced. If the Probation Department in Washington had confiscated his weapons, this tragedy could have been avoided.

This demented individual did what every criminal does; he decided to prey upon the unprepared and defenseless. His attempts to create violence at other Jewish facilities, including the Museum of Tolerance, were foiled by the presence of security systems. He chose the Jewish day care center because it had no security in place to prevent such an attack.

According to polls conducted by Gallup and the Los Angeles Times, guns are used in lawful self-defense over two million times a year. If law abiding people were disarmed, our crime rates would sky-rocket.          [Note: Emphasis added by me — RD]

Around the world, restrictive gun laws have been shown to have an adverse affect on the rates of violence. For example, in Israel, gun possession rates are higher than those in the United States and Israel has one-fifth the firearm-related homicide rate of the United States. In Switzerland, the firearm possession rate is very high, but the firearm violence rate is very low. On the other extreme, in Mexico, where individual firearm possession is prohibited, the firearm violence rate is similar to that of the United States. New York has a ban on handgun ownership, but that did not prevent the fatal shooting of John Lennon.

The National Safety Council, in a 1997 study, stated that for juveniles under the age of fifteen there were 1050 accidental drowning deaths, compared to 220 accidental firearm-related deaths. We do not ban swimming pools. Rather, we teach our children water safety and how to swim.

The answer to gun violence is to enforce existing laws and punish criminals who use a gun in a crime. I support a zero tolerance policy for firearm-related crimes, including a prohibition on plea bargaining, confiscation of firearms from convicted felons, and a mandatory fifty year sentence for persons convicted of usin.q a firearm in the commission of a crime.

Thank you again for the opportunity to address your concerns regarding this important issue.