The La Mesa City Council has advanced a draft ordinance requiring residents to keep firearms locked away or disabled with a trigger lock unless carried by — or near — an authorized user in the home.
Fifteen months after the same proposal was shot down by a 3-2 vote, the council voted 3-2 Tuesday night to have city staff bring back the plan for a first reading, according to The Times of San Diego.
The difference was Councilwoman Patricia Dillard, who replaced Bill Baber last November.
Baber, who endorsed Dillard, opposed the plan in April 2022. Dillard, a former member of the city's Police Oversight Board, joined councilmembers Jack Shu and Colin Parent in backing the measure. As they did in 2022, Mayor Mark Arapostathis and Councilwoman Laura Lothian opposed the idea.
La Mesa would join the cities of San Diego, Solana Beach, Del Mar and Encinitas with a so-called "safe storage" ordinance. A similar law, passed by the county Board of Supervisors, took effect Feb. 25, 2022, for unincorporated areas of San Diego County.
Twenty-nine people addressed the issue Tuesday night, with all but six opposing the measure.
