Still recovering from a mass shooting that left 11 dead, the Monterey Park City Council will decide Wednesday, Aug. 2, on whether to adopt an ordinance that would add a “Firearm Protection Zone ” to the city’s municipal code.
If adopted, the ordinance would regulate firearms dealers within the city’s jurisdiction by creating a buffer zone to separate gun dealers from certain “sensitive receptors” such as homes and schools.
“We’re doing everything we can to curb the use of both legal and illegal guns in the city,” Councilmember Thomas Wong said.
On Jan. 21, 11 people were slain and nine were injured at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio after a gunman’s shooting spree. The gunman used a semi-automatic handgun in his rampage. The gun was purchased in Monterey Park but it was not registered in California, authorities said.
The shooter, Huu Can Tran, 72, was found to have been hoarding ammunition and firearms. He killed himself after a standoff with police hours after the event.
“The City Council recognizes that the regulation of firearms is controversial,” the Aug. 2 staff report states. “It cannot ignore, however, that the United States has less than 5% of the world’s population but 46% of the world’s civilian owned guns.”
There are only a few gun retailers in or near Monterey Park — Caps Armory on Monterey Pass Road and Big 5 Sporting Goods on Atlantic Boulevard. EuroArms is on West Valley Boulevard in the neighboring city of Alhambra, where the gunman was thwarted by Brandon Tsay in Lai Lai Ballroom.
Locally, neither EuroArms nor Caps Armory commented on the proposed ordinance. A call to Big 5’s corporate number in the afternoon on Monday had not been returned. The two dealers in the city operate outside the proposed zone, so they would not be subject to enforcement.
Because the protection zone means gun sales would be prohibited in “the area within 1,000 feet of a sensitive receptor,” according to Wong, this ordinance would effectively minimize the opportunities for legal gun sales within Monterey Park — a city largely made up of suburban streets and school zones. Additionally, while it does not close the doors of current retailers, nor prevent others from moving in, if a storefront chooses to make renovations or upgrades that entail filing for city permits, then it would be bound to this ordinance, and risks closure.
Since the shooting, the Monterey Park City Council has supported an array of gun reform bills at the local, state and federal levels.
The Council voted unanimously to support Senate Bill 14: Age 21 Act, Senate Bill 25: Assault Weapons Ban of 2023, and California Senate Bill 2, prohibiting a person from carrying a concealed firearm or carrying a loaded firearm in public.
