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Per California state law, a person may be criminally liable under Penal Code section 25100 et. seq. if all of the following occur: 1) the person keeps any firearm within any premises that are under the person's custody or control; 2) the person knows or reasonably should know that a child is likely to gain access to the firearm without the permission of the child's parent or legal guardian, or that a person prohibited from possessing a firearm is likely to gain access to the firearm; and 3) the child or prohibited person obtains access the firearm and thereby causes injury or carries the firearm to a public place. The attached proposed ordinance fills a gap in state law by specifying what are acceptable safe storage practices for firearms within residences thus rendering moot the question of whether a gun owner should have "reasonably known" that a child or prohibited person was likely to access the firearm. Numerous counties and cities in California have adopted similar ordinances to the one proposed, including but not limited to the cities of Dublin (December 2020), Palo Alto, San Jose, and Redwood City. The proposed ordinance will be added to Chapter 10.12 (Weapons) of the Pleasanton Municipal Code (PMC) with enforcement covered in section 1.12 (General Penalty) of the PMC. Accordingly, a violation of PMC section 10.12.040 will be an infraction, punishable by a $100 fine (per firearm) for the first violation and greater fines for repeat violations. If a person violates the ordinance more than three times in any 12 -month period, the violation will be a misdemeanor. Administrative citations, with the same fines from PMC section 1.12, may also able be used to address violations. This is aligned with similar municipal codes with regards to firearms. For example, this is the same penalty as 10.12.010, which regulates the discharge of a firearm within the city limits. Staff did not believe the storage of firearms should be carry a stricter penalty than the discharge of a firearm, which is inherently more dangerous than the safe storage of a firearm. CONCLUSION The proposed ordinance seeks to curb access to firearms by children and other individuals who may be at risk of harming themselves or others by requiring persons to store firearms in residences in either a locked container or with a trigger lock. If approved, the proposed ordinance will take effect and be enforced 30 days following a second reading. Page 3 of 4