San Jose Mandates Video Recording Of All Gun Purchases In Wake Of VTA Shooting
SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) -- In the wake of a workplace mass shooting that claimed the lives of nine transit workers, San Jose officials have passed a new gun law that requires retailers to video record all firearm purchases, becoming the largest city in California with such a rule.
The new law requires stores that sell guns to record the sale with video and audio. Retailers will also be required to save the recording for a minimum of 30 days.
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said the law targets so-called "straw purchases" in which someone who can legally buy a gun purchases the firearm for someone who cannot like a convicted felon.
"If someone is going to break the law in order to get a gun, we can expect they're going to break the law when they get the gun. And so, at the very least, let's make sure people do not get guns when the law says they shouldn't have them," said Liccardo.
Gun rights advocates have been critical of the new law. They say it's yet another regulation that law-abiding gun owners will follow but that will have little impact on criminals.
"None of these proposals have any sort of evidence that they would curb gun violence in any way, shape or form. These are all just touchy-feely proposals," said Sam Paredes with Gun Owners of California.
Liccardo introduced a series of gun control measures two years ago, following the deadly mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival. However, last month's mass shooting at the VTA rail yard has intensified calls for gun control reform.
"I just think that we need to make automatic weapons and semi-automatic weapons that are meant for war illegal for any citizen to own. And that just comes from my history," said Alan Hinman who survived a mass shooting in San Francisco in 1993.
Liccardo's other gun control proposals include measures targeting so-called "ghost guns" along with proposals to require gun owners to have mandatory insurance and pay an annual fee.