The Palm Desert City Council during a study session earlier this month discussed a draft ordinance that would prohibit people from possessing firearms at City Hall, including individuals with concealed carry weapons (CCW) permits.
“The matter before you stems from the development of a policy addressing threats of violence directed towards council members and candidates,” City Clerk Anthony Mejia said. “During this process, staff identified a gap in state law: While the California Penal Code prohibits firearms and government buildings, it does not extend the prohibition to individuals carrying concealed weapons with a permit.”
Mejia said that while looking into the viability of such an ordinance, staff found that the city of Sunnyvale in Santa Clara County had adopted a similar ordinance and felt the city of Palm Desert could do the same, if the council so desired, by putting the ordinance on a future agenda for discussion and action.
“However, it should be considered that the ordinance itself may provide a false sense of security, as someone intending to commit a crime may not be deterred by the potential of an infraction,” Mejia said. “Additionally, without further security measures such as screening or metal detection, this ordinance may have limited effectiveness in preventing firearms from being brought into City Hall.”
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Council members Gina Nestande and Evan Trubee both felt an ordinance like this would likely do more harm than good, especially given all of the work the city has been doing to increase security at City Hall.
“In my opinion, if we pass this ordinance, it would have a negative or deleterious effect on law abiding citizens, because they’re the only ones who would honor this rule,” Trubee said. “You’re effectively disarming people who have gotten CCWs.
“CCWs are not acquired in order for people to commit offensive acts, they’re typically acquired for people who want to have a form of self defense,” he continued. “And I believe that if we were to pass this ordinance, it would actually tip the scales in favor of people who would want to commit violent crimes.”
Councilmember Kathleen Kelly said that while she would like to see the ordinance come back before the council as a regular agenda item, she did have some questions that she wanted answered, including what the county’s policy is at its own facilities and what the sheriff’s department’s opinion on the ordinance was since they are the ones tasked with keeping City Hall safe, questions Councilmember Jan Harnik said she agreed should be addressed, even if she didn’t feel now was the right time for this ordinance.
“At this point, I think we’re fine,” Harnik said. “And for us to go further and start making rules that we really can’t enforce, it’s just not a good look.”
A full recording of the Oct. 10 study session can be found here on the city’s YouTube channel.
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