Last night the San Carlos City Council adopted, on a 4 to 1 vote, a moratorium on the opening of any new store selling firearms or ammunition within city limits. While the initial moratorium, by California law, lasts only 45 days, the Council has the authority to extend it, for up to two years, in order to have time to research, discuss and decide what, if any, new rules and regulations are needed to promote public health & safety in our community. The lone nay vote was cast by Matt Grocott.

For all of you who took the time to ask the Council to do what it can to combat the insanity of gun violence that has gripped our country, thank you. I have many friends and colleagues who own guns, and I don’t worry about their ownership any more than I worry that they might use a propane torch or a table saw to burn or injure me. But I’ve also run across people, and read about more, who make me ask “why in the world are we allowing that much firepower to be in the hands of that person?”.

The Constitution grants individuals the right to bear arms…but one of the most conservative Supreme Court justices of the last century opined that communities have a legitimate right to regulate and control guns. If it’s good enough for Antonin Scalia, it’s good enough for the rest of us! Surely there’s a way to strike a better balance between the 2nd Amendment and community safety than what we currently have. Surely we can find a way to protect recreational uses of a potentially lethal tool while reducing the harm firearms cause in the wrong hands.

Last night, San Carlos took a first, small step towards being that change. In doing so, we stood up not only for our values, but our motto: we can’t be the City of Good Living unless we honor and protect life.

But it was only a first step. Now comes the hard part, when we have to figure out what to do and how to do it. But we can do it, whatever that ends up being. 

Stay tuned. Stay involved. Stay engaged.