After a previous failed attempt, the county Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 Tuesday to adopt a plan that aims to reduce gun violence in the region, including establishing an advisory group and hosting community town halls.
The board voted to formally accept a report that it had requested in April 2022 to investigate ways to tackle the problem. The report, prepared by Health Assessment and Research for Communities, offered statistics, public input, key findings and methods to lessen the problem, including safe-gun storage. It will be a blueprint moving forward.
Supervisors on Tuesday also approved hiring a person to coordinate gun-violence reduction activities and an annual report on gun violence in the county. In early 2025, county staff will update the board on the work plan.
Board Chair Nora Vargas, Vice Chair Terra Lawson-Remer and Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe voted in favor of the overall proposal, in the form of two agenda items.
Supervisors Joel Anderson and Jim Desmond voted yes on a first grouping of recommendations, including formally receiving the report, but no on a second set.
The board agreed to tackle several policy recommendations, including many that collectively aim to position the county as a clearinghouse for local government, stakeholders and community members when it comes to gun-violence reduction efforts. That includes holding educational events, sharing gun-violence data with the public and supporting community action. The county also aims to develop a way to measure how effective its efforts are.
In a statement, Lawson-Remer said county residents support common-sense gun safety reforms.
“Educating gun owners about safe gun storage, and parents about how to have difficult conversations with other parents about what gun storage looks like in their homes, will save lives,” she added.
In an emailed response, Desmond said he voted in favor of several work plan recommendations, but not all of them.
He described the recommendations as disproportionate, with 14 percent of them related to issues concerning suicide. According to the study, the suicide rate represents 70 percent of gun-related deaths in the county.
Desmond said that rather “than spending tax-payer dollars on hiring someone to go talk to groups,” it would be better to use that money for direct community needs.
“If we don’t get to the root cause of the issue, mental health and violence, nothing will change,” Desmond stated. “The last thing we need is more bureaucracy, especially focused on the wrong thing like taking guns away from law-abiding citizens.”
Other than specifying which policy recommendations he didn’t support, Anderson had no formal comment.
In July, supervisors failed to advance the researchers’ report and recommendations, deadlocking on a 2-2 vote. At the time, the board lacked a fifth supervisor after Nathan Fletcher resigned in May in the wake of sexual assault allegations.
