(a) The presence of concealed firearms in crowds of people at large public gatherings has the potential to present public safety risks associated with the accidental or intentional discharge of a weapon. Subject to limited exceptions, Section 617 of the Police Code prohibits the possession of firearms on City property. But Section 617 does not apply to the public right-of-way owned by the City.
(b) The U.S. Supreme Court emphasized in District of Columbia v. Heller, its 2008 decision which characterized the Second Amendment as recognizing an individual right to keep and bear arms, that “laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings” are valid public safety regulations under the Second Amendment.
(c) In recent years, public, densely populated spaces have been targeted by gunmen with the apparent goal of causing mass physical and emotional harm, particularly apparent with the recent and horrific mass shootings on the Las Vegas strip and at a nightclub in Orlando.
(d) A July 2015 Congressional Research Service Report found that between 1999 and 2013, offenders committed 66 mass shootings in public places, killing 446 victims and injuring 329 victims. The report defined a mass shooting as one where four or more victims are killed at a single event.
(e) Studies show that in general guns do not protect those who possess them from gun violence. A 2009 study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that individuals possessing a gun were 4.46 times more likely than individuals not possessing a gun to be shot when assaulted by another individual possessing a gun.
(f) City residents must have a reasonable expectation of safety while at public gatherings. Perceptions of safety are important to encouraging civic engagement and participation. The presence of firearms at public gatherings can therefore depress involvement in civic life.
(g) The presence of firearms at public gatherings where expressive activity is taking place is likely to intimidate some participants and chill or suppress speech, and cause some interested persons not to attend such gatherings. According to news reports, the presence of firearms at the recent white supremacist rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia, intimidated some people who disagreed with the message of the rally participants into silence. While the threat of such chilling is reduced when the open carrying of firearms is prohibited, nonetheless the knowledge that demonstrators may be carrying concealed firearms can operate to deter and silence speech.
(h) Prohibiting the possession of firearms at certain outdoor public gatherings in the City will promote the public health and safety by reducing the presence of firearms and the potential for gunshot fatalities and injuries. The prohibition will also promote public participation at events involving expressive activities, because it will reduce the likelihood of people being intimidated by the presence of concealed firearms.
(Added by Ord. 118-18, File No. 180159, App. 5/17/2018, Eff. 6/17/2018)