3rd paragraph, in bold - should be gun theft and/or loss. (I was a little confused for a moment.)

Thanks! Fixed.

Do they address how #4 is possibly consittutional? Just put "car" or "briefcase" wherever you see the word 'gun'.

"You also are required to allow police to inspect your briefcase and papers."

That's a nice search and seizure argument right there.(plus a little 2nd amendment to get the NRA lawyers to help)

I was immediately reminded of the old drug / prostitution "free" zones. Oh, what fond memories. The first exclusion zone is going to Lloyd Center, obviously...

The problem I see with this approach is that it seems like many of the gun offenders are teens who haven't yet committed any gun crimes. They might have records for curfew, assault, anything like that-- but no gun charge-- and then they get involved in a dispute with a rival group and seek out a firearm.

So essentially the exclusion isn't really going to keep anyone from shooting up the mall if they really want to, it just tacks on an extra wrist-slap for repeat offenders. Not sure what good that will do.

I'm confused about how #4 conflicts with the right to bear arms as well. Seems like the complete opposite.

Good thing the city has as good a legal team as the NRA and just as much money to throw at the litigation!

"His office has a 20-page packet of draft ordinances, which I've managed to obtain an exclusive copy of"

I wonder why the Mercury gets favored treatment? Is it because the Mayor knows that our supposedly "subversive" "alternative" weekly actually spends all its time uncritically swallowing and rejurgitating whatever crap City Hall puts out?

This just showed up under my 'Local' section of the Google News homepage.

@Blabby: No favored treatment here; just made sure (for a change) that I was in the right place at the right time.

Some gun restrictions are worth fighting for. Let's take a look at (an abridged version) of these proposals.

1. A child safety law that would hold adults responsible if their gun gets into a child's hands.
I'm amazed this doesn't already exist. Right now it's OK for a kid to walk around with or have access to parents' gun? That's crazy.

2. A theft reporting law that would penalize gun owners who don't report the theft or loss of a firearm.
If your gun is stolen, you don't have to report it? That's also crazy. I suspect that stolen guns are often used in crimes. Gun stealers should be held accountable. Gun owners shouldn't be letting them get away. This proposal seems reasonable to me.

2. Allow the city to exclude gun offenders who are on probation or under juvenile authority from entering a public area or park within the hot spot locations.
I'd like to know more about this one. Are gun offenders only forbidden from the area *while carrying a gun*? If that's the case, then, yes, this is a good idea. If they're forbidden from public areas under (almost) all circumstances, I disagree with this measure. It's uncomfortable having felons and former shooters in public spaces. But public spaces should be open to the public. If the court sees someone as safe enough to be out of jail, then they should be able to go where they want. If they're a threat, they should remain in jail. But I'm not for this they're-sometimes-a-threat in between.

I suspect most people who disagree with these proposals disagree with the concept of gun control, but, if you look at the specifics, having these proposal may be more reasonable than not having them.

I'm quite confident these gun laws will be just as successful as our municipal war on meth, prostitution, car theft, and peeing on sidewalks.

A gun theft reporting law is useless, because people will just say they didn't realize the gun was missing. In my opinion, anyone who proposes a new gun law should provide data showing that it was effective in some other place. Remember that there are no new ideas in gun control. Everything has been tried some place.

It seems our elected officials are always moaning about frivolous lawsuits but they see nothing wrong with making frivolous laws and any law that is unconstitutional is most certainly frivolous and originated in the mind of an idiot.