Agenda Item # 3.2 - Don Veith | Received 09/07/2022CAUTION: This email originated from an External Source. Please use proper judgment and caution when opening
attachments, clicking links, or responding to this email.
From:BradySantaClara Chapter
To:City Clerk; All Council Members
Subject:EXTERNAL - September 12th Public Comments for Items Not on the Agenda
Date:Wednesday, September 7, 2022 7:27:25 AM
Dear Gilroy Mayor and City Council members:
Your Santa Clara County neighbors urge you to consider passing a Safe Storage
ordinance. You've seen the statistic that homes where guns are kept to protect the
family are actually more dangerous places to live than homes without guns. You've
seen the news stories about young children accidentally shooting themselves or
each other, and teenagers who commit school shootings with a gun from their own
home. You know that two-thirds of all gun deaths are suicides, carried out by the
gun owner himself or a family member with access.
But it doesn't have to be that way. A gun owner can keep his weapons locked up
and still carry one "on his person or under his immediate control" for home defense.
This is a standard clause in all the municipal Safe Storage ordinances adopted in
Santa Clara County.
Some people oppose Safe Storage requirements purely on principle: "As a lifelong
exerciser of the Second Amendment, I know perfectly well how dangerous guns
are, and that's why I voluntarily keep mine locked up!" I would only ask that you
consider the broad spectrum of people who own guns and whether they are all as
careful and conscientious as they could be. We need Safe Storage ordinances like
we needed a seat belt law--to normalize and universalize rational behavior.
SIncerely,
Don Veith, co-ordinator
Santa Clara County Chapter
Brady United to Prevent Gun Violence