Proposition H
Encyclopedia
Proposition H was a local ordinance on the November 8, 2005 ballot in San Francisco, California
, which gained national attention for banning the otherwise legal ownership and sales of firearms. The measure won by a majority vote but was later struck down as unlawful in Superior Court
.
possession among San Francisco residents within city limits to police and certain security professionals, and to ban the manufacture, distribution, sale and transfer of firearms and ammunition
within the city. Limited exceptions to the proposition would have allowed residents to possess handguns only if required for specific professional purposes. For example, San Francisco residents who are security guards, peace officers, or active members of the U.S. armed forces would be permitted to possess handguns while on duty. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors
enacted penalties for violation of this ordinance, including mandatory jail time. Until April 1, 2006, residents would have been able to surrender their handguns
to any district station of the San Francisco Police Department
or the San Francisco Sheriff's Department
without penalty.
, Chris Daly
, Bevan Dufty
and Matt Gonzalez
.
Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier
initially supported the ordinance but formally withdrew her sponsorship on February 23, 2005.
On June 13, 2006, in the case of Fiscal v. City and County of San Francisco (Case No. CPF-05-505960), San Francisco Superior Court Judge James Warren struck down the ban, saying local governments have no such authority under California law. Judge Warren sided with the National Rifle Association
, Second Amendment Foundation
, and other petitioners represented by Chuck Michel of Trutanich-Michel, LLP, in Long Beach, California
, who sued on behalf of gun owners, advocates and dealers the day after the measure passed.
According to Judge Warren's 30-page ruling,
The judge's decision was not without precedent considering a California appeals court nullified an almost identical San Francisco gun ban on exactly the same grounds in 1982.
The City appealed Judge Warren's ruling, but lost by a unanimous decision from the three judge panel in the Court of Appeals
issued on January 9, 2008. On February 19, 2008, San Francisco asked the California Supreme Court to review Court of Appeal's decision. The state Supreme Court reached a unanimous decision on April 9, 2008 that rejected the city's appeal and upheld the lower courts' decision.
In October 2008, San Francisco was forced to pay a $380,000 settlement to the National Rifle Association and other plaintiffs to cover the costs of litigating Proposition H.
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, which gained national attention for banning the otherwise legal ownership and sales of firearms. The measure won by a majority vote but was later struck down as unlawful in Superior Court
Superior court
In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general competence which typically has unlimited jurisdiction with regard to civil and criminal legal cases...
.
Proposition summary
Proposition H sought to restrict handgunHandgun
A handgun is a firearm designed to be held and operated by one hand. This characteristic differentiates handguns as a general class of firearms from long guns such as rifles and shotguns ....
possession among San Francisco residents within city limits to police and certain security professionals, and to ban the manufacture, distribution, sale and transfer of firearms and ammunition
Ammunition
Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...
within the city. Limited exceptions to the proposition would have allowed residents to possess handguns only if required for specific professional purposes. For example, San Francisco residents who are security guards, peace officers, or active members of the U.S. armed forces would be permitted to possess handguns while on duty. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors
San Francisco Board of Supervisors
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislative body within the government of the City and County of San Francisco, California, United States.-Government and politics:...
enacted penalties for violation of this ordinance, including mandatory jail time. Until April 1, 2006, residents would have been able to surrender their handguns
Amnesty
Amnesty is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to the positions of innocent people, without changing the laws defining the offense. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the...
to any district station of the San Francisco Police Department
San Francisco Police Department
The San Francisco Police Department, also known as the SFPD and San Francisco Department Of Police, is the police department of the City and County of San Francisco, California...
or the San Francisco Sheriff's Department
San Francisco Sheriff's Department
The San Francisco Sheriff's Department is the sheriff's department for the City and County of San Francisco. The department has 850 deputized personnel, and support staff....
without penalty.
The main sponsors
The measure was placed on the ballot with supporting signatures from Supervisors Tom AmmianoTom Ammiano
Tom Ammiano is an American politician and LGBT rights activist from San Francisco, California. Ammiano is a Democrat who has served as a member of the California State Assembly since 2008, representing the 13th district...
, Chris Daly
Chris Daly
Chris Daly is a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He represented District 6, on which he served from 2000 to 2010...
, Bevan Dufty
Bevan Dufty
Bevan Dufty is an American politician and former Member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He represented San Francisco's District 8, encompassing the 71,000 residents of Ashbury Heights, Buena Vista, The Castro, Diamond Heights, Dolores Park, Duboce Triangle, Glen Park, Noe Valley,...
and Matt Gonzalez
Matt Gonzalez
Matthew Edward Gonzalez is an American politician, lawyer, and activist prominent in San Francisco politics. He currently serves as chief attorney in the San Francisco Public Defender's office....
.
Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier
Michela Alioto-Pier
Michela Alioto-Pier served as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. She represented District 2, encompassing the Marina and Pacific Heights neighborhoods. She previously served as a member of the San Francisco Port Commission. She was appointed to the Board of Supervisors by Gavin...
initially supported the ordinance but formally withdrew her sponsorship on February 23, 2005.
Groups in opposition
- San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco Chroniclethumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
- San Francisco Examiner
- Asian Week
- Frontlines
- The ArgonautThe ArgonautThe Argonaut was a literary journal based in San Francisco, California that ran from 1877 to 1893, founded and published by Frank M. Pixley. The magazine was known for containing strong political Americanism combined with art and literature...
- San Francisco Deputy Sheriff's Association
- San Francisco Police Officer's Association
- San Francisco Veteran Police Officers Association
- BART Police Officers SEIU Local 1008
- California Association of Highway Patrolmen
- Fraternal Order of PoliceFraternal Order of PoliceThe Fraternal Order of Police is an organization of sworn law enforcement officers in the United States. It claims a membership of over 325,000 members organized in 2100 local chapters , organized into local lodges, state lodges, and the national Grand Lodge...
(California State Lodge) - Chinese AmericanChinese AmericanChinese Americans represent Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of overseas Chinese and also a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans...
Democratic Club - Coalition For SF Neighborhoods
- The Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council
- Mexican American Political AssociationMexican American Political AssociationMexican American Political Association is an organization that promotes the interests of Mexican-Americans, Mexicans, Latinos, Chicanos, Hispanics and Latino Economic Refugees in the United States.-History:...
- Outer Mission Residents Association
- Richmond DistrictRichmond District, San Francisco, CaliforniaThe Richmond District is a neighborhood in the northwest corner of San Francisco, California.-Location:Lying directly north of Golden Gate Park, "the Richmond" is bounded roughly by Fulton Street to the south, Arguello Boulevard and Laurel Heights to the east, The Presidio National Park and Lincoln...
Democratic Club - San Francisco Housing Rights Association
- San Francisco Pink PistolsPink PistolsThe Pink Pistols are a gay gun rights organization in the United States and Canada. Their mottos are "Pick on someone your own caliber" and "Armed gays don't get bashed." Inspired by a Salon.com article written by Jonathan Rauch, Krikket , a libertarian activist from Illinois while living in...
- The National Rifle Association
Results at the polls
Demise in the courts
Proposition H would have taken effect January 1, 2006, but enforcement was suspended by litigation.On June 13, 2006, in the case of Fiscal v. City and County of San Francisco (Case No. CPF-05-505960), San Francisco Superior Court Judge James Warren struck down the ban, saying local governments have no such authority under California law. Judge Warren sided with the National Rifle Association
National Rifle Association
The National Rifle Association of America is an American non-profit 501 civil rights organization which advocates for the protection of the Second Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights and the promotion of firearm ownership rights as well as marksmanship, firearm safety, and the protection...
, Second Amendment Foundation
Second Amendment Foundation
The Second Amendment Foundation or SAF is an educational- and legal-defense organization which describes its mission as “promoting a better understanding about our constitutional heritage to privately own and possess firearms...
, and other petitioners represented by Chuck Michel of Trutanich-Michel, LLP, in Long Beach, California
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
, who sued on behalf of gun owners, advocates and dealers the day after the measure passed.
According to Judge Warren's 30-page ruling,
The judge's decision was not without precedent considering a California appeals court nullified an almost identical San Francisco gun ban on exactly the same grounds in 1982.
The City appealed Judge Warren's ruling, but lost by a unanimous decision from the three judge panel in the Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals
A court of appeals is an appellate court generally.Court of Appeals may refer to:*Military Court of Appeals *Corte d'Assise d'Appello *Philippine Court of Appeals*High Court of Appeals of Turkey*United States courts of appeals...
issued on January 9, 2008. On February 19, 2008, San Francisco asked the California Supreme Court to review Court of Appeal's decision. The state Supreme Court reached a unanimous decision on April 9, 2008 that rejected the city's appeal and upheld the lower courts' decision.
In October 2008, San Francisco was forced to pay a $380,000 settlement to the National Rifle Association and other plaintiffs to cover the costs of litigating Proposition H.
See also
- Gun politics in the United StatesGun politics in the United StatesGun politics in the United States refers to an ongoing political and social debate regarding both the restriction and availability of firearms within the United States. It has long been among the most controversial and intractable issues in American politics...
- Firearm case law in the United StatesFirearm case law in the United StatesFirearm case law, in the history of the United States, has been directly addressed by the Supreme Court and other federal courts, many times. These cases deal with Second Amendment, which is a part of the Bill of Rights, the Commerce Clause and/or federal laws regulating firearms possession.-United...
- Right to keep and bear arms
- Coalition to Stop Gun ViolenceCoalition to Stop Gun ViolenceThe Coalition to Stop Gun Violence , and the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence , its sister organization, are two parts of a national, non-profit gun control advocacy organization.-History:...
- Brady Handgun Violence Prevention ActBrady Handgun Violence Prevention ActThe Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act is an Act of the United States Congress that, for the first time, instituted federal background checks on firearm purchasers in the United States....
- National Rifle AssociationNational Rifle AssociationThe National Rifle Association of America is an American non-profit 501 civil rights organization which advocates for the protection of the Second Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights and the promotion of firearm ownership rights as well as marksmanship, firearm safety, and the protection...
- Second Amendment FoundationSecond Amendment FoundationThe Second Amendment Foundation or SAF is an educational- and legal-defense organization which describes its mission as “promoting a better understanding about our constitutional heritage to privately own and possess firearms...
- Pink PistolsPink PistolsThe Pink Pistols are a gay gun rights organization in the United States and Canada. Their mottos are "Pick on someone your own caliber" and "Armed gays don't get bashed." Inspired by a Salon.com article written by Jonathan Rauch, Krikket , a libertarian activist from Illinois while living in...
(Gay gun rights organization) - Guy Montag Doe v. San Francisco Housing AuthorityGuy Montag Doe v. San Francisco Housing AuthorityGuy Montag Doe v. San Francisco Housing Authority is a lawsuit filed by the National Rifle Association the day after the United States Supreme Court decided in District of Columbia v. Heller that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects an individual's right to possess a...
(2008 NRA lawsuit against San Francisco challenging the city's ban of guns in public housingPublic housingPublic housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...
.) - Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act of 2006Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act of 2006The Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act of 2006 was a bill introduced in the United States Congress intended to prohibit the confiscation of legally possessed firearms during a disaster...
(Law enacted in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina prohibiting the confiscation of legal firearms in a state of emergencyState of emergencyA state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
.) - District of Columbia v. HellerDistrict of Columbia v. HellerDistrict of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 , was a landmark case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects an individual's right to possess a firearm for traditionally lawful purposes in federal enclaves, such as...
(Landmark 2008 Supreme CourtSupreme Court of the United StatesThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
decision stating that the US ConstitutionUnited States ConstitutionThe Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
protects an individual's rightRightRights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people, according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory...
to possess a firearmFirearmA firearm is a weapon that launches one, or many, projectile at high velocity through confined burning of a propellant. This subsonic burning process is technically known as deflagration, as opposed to supersonic combustion known as a detonation. In older firearms, the propellant was typically...
for self defense.) - McDonald v. ChicagoMcDonald v. ChicagoMcDonald v. Chicago, 561 U.S. 3025, 130 S.Ct. 3020 , was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that determined whether the Second Amendment applies to the individual states...
(Landmark 2010 Supreme CourtSupreme Court of the United StatesThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
decision stating that the Second Amendment was incorporated under the Fourteenth Amendment.)
External links
- Full text of Proposition H
- Full text of San Francisco's appeal of the court's decision
- Voters take stand against guns, recruiting at schools
- Judge invalidates Prop. H handgun ban
- San Francisco Board of Supervisors website
- National Rifle Association website