Open Mouth, insert foot, and gagg
S.F. mayor, police chief, others call for gun-show ban at Cow Palace
San Francisco political leaders Thursday called for the end of gun shows at the Cow Palace, saying the shows on state-owned property are effectively turning California into "a merchant of tools of death."
Standing in the parking lot of the indoor arena, District Attorney Kamala Harris, Mayor Gavin Newsom, Police Chief Heather Fong and Assemblyman Mark Leno said the shows - including Crossroads of the West Gun Show, which comes to the palace Saturday and Sunday - are directly contributing to the proliferation of illegal guns and spiking homicide rates in San Francisco.
They admitted to having no direct proof, but said they have heard countless stories from neighbors about guns - including AK47s and sawed-off shotguns - being illegally sold in the adjacent public housing developments and in the arena's parking lot during the gun shows.
The group is backing Leno's legislation to ban the sale of guns and ammunition at the arena.
"This place behind us, the Cow Palace, is state property that is allowing the state of California to be a merchant of tools of death," Harris said. "There is an absolute and direct connection with gun shows at Cow Palace."
Bob Templeton, president of the Utah-based Crossroads of the West Gun Show, disputed that claim, saying he has asked officials with the Daly City Police Department, Cow Palace management and the California Department of Justice whether they know of any illegal gun sales that have ever taken place at the shows. They all said no, according to Templeton.
Templeton added that the show has come to the arena for 23 years, and there have never been any arrests or charges filed against anybody for selling illegal guns there. He added that two uniformed Daly City police officers are always stationed at the show and that the show is monitored by the Gun Show Task Force, part of the state Justice Department that was created seven years ago by state legislation.
"It's distressing when politicians, for their own ends, make charges like these. These are simply allegations made by people who don't like guns," he said.
"We are selling guns to people who are hunters, outdoorsmen, law enforcement people and honest, law-abiding citizens," he said, noting that all purchasers go through mandatory background checks and are subject to 10-day waiting periods.
The CEO of the Cow Palace and the president of the arena's board of directors did not return calls for comment.
The arena was opened in 1941 and is an agency of the California Food and Agricultural Department's Division of Fairs and Expositions. Originally built to serve as a livestock pavilion, it now holds 100 events annually, including four to six gun shows as well as more innocuous activities including rodeos, dog shows, circuses and Disney on Ice.
San Francisco earlier this month adopted legislation banning gun shows on city and county property. Other counties, including Alameda, Marin and Los Angeles, have passed similar bans. But because the Cow Palace sits on state-owned land between San Francisco and San Mateo County, local governing bodies don't have authority over its gun shows.
Leno's legislation mirrors the effort former state Sen. Jackie Speier made to ban gun shows at the arena in 2004. Back then, passage of the legislation was urged by the San Francisco and San Mateo boards of supervisors. It was narrowly approved in the Senate, but narrowly defeated in the Assembly.
Speier's legislation was prompted by Brothers Against Guns, a Bayview-Hunters Point group, and Central American Resource Center in the Mission. Both groups conducted surveys of youth asking them the best way to end gun violence. The idea of shutting down gun shows was mentioned again and again, Leno said.
Shawn Richards, director of Brothers Against Guns, said people during the gun shows drive through the public housing developments near the arena, including Sunnydale, and illegally hawk weapons to residents. They also illegally sell weapons in the parking lot of the arena itself, he said.
Ingleside and Bayview-Hunters Point, which is near the Cow Palace, have been the sites of 142 homicides since Jan. 1, 2004 - 43 percent of the city total, Harris said.
Leno said that even if there's no direct proof tying a particular gun used in a homicide in San Francisco back to its sale at a Cow Palace gun show, a ban still makes sense.
He said the shows glamorize guns with "neon signs shouting guns, guns, guns" and aren't wanted by the neighbors who live around the arena. He added that if gun shows took place at venues in wealthier neighborhoods - say, at Kezar Pavilion or the Palace of Fine Arts - they would have been shut down long ago.
Leno said he expects the legislation to be heard in January and wind up on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk in March or April.
Newsom said he met three weeks ago with the governor, who agreed to plant undercover California Highway Patrol officers and other law enforcement officers at the show this weekend to arrest anybody illegally selling guns.
"I want to send a big message," Newsom said. "We're going to be out in force."
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Well Mr. Gavin Newsom, Why are you pandering to illegal aliens and not cracking down on crime? Or do you just have an anal retentive agenda against LEGAL and RIGHTFUL gun owners?[}:)][:(!]
San Francisco political leaders Thursday called for the end of gun shows at the Cow Palace, saying the shows on state-owned property are effectively turning California into "a merchant of tools of death."
Standing in the parking lot of the indoor arena, District Attorney Kamala Harris, Mayor Gavin Newsom, Police Chief Heather Fong and Assemblyman Mark Leno said the shows - including Crossroads of the West Gun Show, which comes to the palace Saturday and Sunday - are directly contributing to the proliferation of illegal guns and spiking homicide rates in San Francisco.
They admitted to having no direct proof, but said they have heard countless stories from neighbors about guns - including AK47s and sawed-off shotguns - being illegally sold in the adjacent public housing developments and in the arena's parking lot during the gun shows.
The group is backing Leno's legislation to ban the sale of guns and ammunition at the arena.
"This place behind us, the Cow Palace, is state property that is allowing the state of California to be a merchant of tools of death," Harris said. "There is an absolute and direct connection with gun shows at Cow Palace."
Bob Templeton, president of the Utah-based Crossroads of the West Gun Show, disputed that claim, saying he has asked officials with the Daly City Police Department, Cow Palace management and the California Department of Justice whether they know of any illegal gun sales that have ever taken place at the shows. They all said no, according to Templeton.
Templeton added that the show has come to the arena for 23 years, and there have never been any arrests or charges filed against anybody for selling illegal guns there. He added that two uniformed Daly City police officers are always stationed at the show and that the show is monitored by the Gun Show Task Force, part of the state Justice Department that was created seven years ago by state legislation.
"It's distressing when politicians, for their own ends, make charges like these. These are simply allegations made by people who don't like guns," he said.
"We are selling guns to people who are hunters, outdoorsmen, law enforcement people and honest, law-abiding citizens," he said, noting that all purchasers go through mandatory background checks and are subject to 10-day waiting periods.
The CEO of the Cow Palace and the president of the arena's board of directors did not return calls for comment.
The arena was opened in 1941 and is an agency of the California Food and Agricultural Department's Division of Fairs and Expositions. Originally built to serve as a livestock pavilion, it now holds 100 events annually, including four to six gun shows as well as more innocuous activities including rodeos, dog shows, circuses and Disney on Ice.
San Francisco earlier this month adopted legislation banning gun shows on city and county property. Other counties, including Alameda, Marin and Los Angeles, have passed similar bans. But because the Cow Palace sits on state-owned land between San Francisco and San Mateo County, local governing bodies don't have authority over its gun shows.
Leno's legislation mirrors the effort former state Sen. Jackie Speier made to ban gun shows at the arena in 2004. Back then, passage of the legislation was urged by the San Francisco and San Mateo boards of supervisors. It was narrowly approved in the Senate, but narrowly defeated in the Assembly.
Speier's legislation was prompted by Brothers Against Guns, a Bayview-Hunters Point group, and Central American Resource Center in the Mission. Both groups conducted surveys of youth asking them the best way to end gun violence. The idea of shutting down gun shows was mentioned again and again, Leno said.
Shawn Richards, director of Brothers Against Guns, said people during the gun shows drive through the public housing developments near the arena, including Sunnydale, and illegally hawk weapons to residents. They also illegally sell weapons in the parking lot of the arena itself, he said.
Ingleside and Bayview-Hunters Point, which is near the Cow Palace, have been the sites of 142 homicides since Jan. 1, 2004 - 43 percent of the city total, Harris said.
Leno said that even if there's no direct proof tying a particular gun used in a homicide in San Francisco back to its sale at a Cow Palace gun show, a ban still makes sense.
He said the shows glamorize guns with "neon signs shouting guns, guns, guns" and aren't wanted by the neighbors who live around the arena. He added that if gun shows took place at venues in wealthier neighborhoods - say, at Kezar Pavilion or the Palace of Fine Arts - they would have been shut down long ago.
Leno said he expects the legislation to be heard in January and wind up on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk in March or April.
Newsom said he met three weeks ago with the governor, who agreed to plant undercover California Highway Patrol officers and other law enforcement officers at the show this weekend to arrest anybody illegally selling guns.
"I want to send a big message," Newsom said. "We're going to be out in force."
_____________________________________________________________________
Well Mr. Gavin Newsom, Why are you pandering to illegal aliens and not cracking down on crime? Or do you just have an anal retentive agenda against LEGAL and RIGHTFUL gun owners?[}:)][:(!]
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pigs 0 -
We all know that criminals buy their guns at shows with police presence and mandatory background checks while civilians buy their guns off the street. 0 -
Newsom is a real piece of work! The fruit worries about a frigging gun show, but yet can't get illegals, muggers, & drug runners, off the streets.
Maybe the Pink Pistol org. will trip him up[:D] wouldn't that be ironic.0
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