A newly proposed Los Angeles city ordinance would require residents to secure handguns when they aren’t being used, either by storing them in a locked container or disabling them with a trigger lock.

City Councilman Paul Krekorian, who proposed the measure, said that California law requires trigger locks to be sold with firearms, yet “there is no requirement that [they] actually be used.”

The idea received immediate support from several other City Council members, including Bob Blumenfield, Bernard C. Parks, Gil Cedillo, Paul Koretz and Mitch O’Farrell.

“It is unconscionable to have a weapon in your home and not have it be stored properly, especially if you have children,” Blumenfield said at a Friday news conference alongside Krekorian.


The proposal will be vetted by a City Council committee focused on public safety issues before the entire council votes on whether to ask City Atty. Mike Feuer to draft such an ordinance.

San Francisco passed a similar law seven years ago, which was challenged by gun owners and upheld by a federal appeals court earlier this year. At the time of that ruling, an attorney for the National Rifle Assn. said the group would seek an immediate review of the decision.

The NRA could not be immediately reached for comment regarding the proposed L.A. ordinance.

Follow @latimesemily for what’s happening at Los Angeles City Hall