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Eric Muetterties, Dublin, representative of the Gun Owners of California, presented copies of letters from the Attorney General of California and from Jerry Avilos to the Mayor of Dublin. He is a cabinet maker with a business in Hayward and prior to November did not own a gun. He has recenfiy become more involved in this issue. He felt prohibiting gun sales in Pleasanton will not stop people from purchasing the guns in other areas. He read the letter from the Attorney General which indicated that local governments are preempted from regulation of firearm sales. He indicated that the pro bono work offered by Legal Community Against Violence actually is very expensive in the long run. He felt the City could be sued by the Attorney General and the Justice Department and objected to the City of Pleasanton exposing itself to this litigation threat. Why do what all the other cities want, just deal with the crime problem when it exists. Gary Cain, 7423 Amador Valley Boulevard (Wayne's Gun Shop), Dublin, related the services he provides for numerous law enforcement agencies and individuals. He felt the ordinance as written will ban all official police duty weapons and most officers' off duty weapons. The staff report refers to the problems with "junk guns". Police officers would rather face someone with a gun that may go off than one that will go off. Bans do not work, bad guys don't follow the registration regulations now. He also indicated the U. S. Constitution and Bill of Rights do not mention sporting use when referring to firearms. That is a term invented in the 1968 Gun Control Act. Nancy Riccomini, 484 Adams Way, Pleasanton, agreed with the trigger lock requirement. She referred to an article in the Tri-Valley Herald on December 27, 1995 which referred to the number of sex offenders who live in Alameda County. She asked Council not to take affordable protection away from single women. If the guns were poorly manufactured, we would know about it because California is the most litigious state in the country. Craig Sjoberg, 4713 First Street, #110, Pleasanton, has been studying the gun issue since the 1968 Gun Control Act. He felt passing another gun law will not change behavior. It is the criminals who should be punished. He belongs to Doctors for Integrity in Research and Public Policy and shared information obtained by this organization. Gun accidents in the home have gone down 50% in the last twenty years. He believed gun safety education should be taught in the schools. He related other information such as criminals only succeed in taking guns from their victims 1% of the time; crimes against an individual is least likely to be successful if an individual is armed; crimes against individuals are stopped a million times a year by armed individuals. He related incidents in Salt Lake City and in Alabama where an armed person tried to hold many people hostage and one individual stopped the criminal. Guns save lives and protect property. This country was founded on the basis of the right of individuals to defend themselves. He presented written material with further information. There was a break at 9:05 p.m. The meeting reconvened at 9:11 p.m. 07/16/96 -19-