Supervisor Yeager Proposes Banning Gun Shows at the Fairgrounds

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SAN JOSE – Santa Clara County Supervisor Ken Yeager, a longtime advocate for reasonable gun control, is proposing to ban gun shows at the County Fairgrounds.

“Allowing firearms to be sold at the Fairgrounds is contrary to one of the County’s main missions: promoting the health and well-being of our residents,” said Yeager. “More and more often, I am getting approached by people who tell me how disturbed they are when they see billboards or signs advertising gun shows at the Fairgrounds. That is not a use they want to see at one of our most prominent public spaces.”

The Santa Clara County Fairgrounds has hosted gun shows for many years. Currently, it hosts two shows a year. The most recent show generated approximately $6,000 in revenue for the County.

Other jurisdictions throughout California have adopted similar restrictions. Supervisor Yeager’s proposed ordinance would not infringe on legitimate gun owners’ rights to lawfully possess or use firearms on private property.

Santa Clara County has already had four shooting deaths in just the first two months of 2018. Nationally, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence says that 315 people are shot each day and 93 of them die from their injuries.

“Last month’s horrific shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida is another tragic reminder of how fast and easy it is to commit mass murder with a gun,” said Yeager. “Longtime Santa Clara County residents may remember how close we came to our own mass shooting in January, 2001 at De Anza College. We can’t eliminate the threat of mass shootings, but we have a responsibility to do everything we can to reduce the risk of them.”

Five years ago, when Yeager was president of the Board of Supervisors, he co-hosted an anonymous gun buyback in March 2013 that took more than 1,100 firearms off the streets, including 47 assault rifles. Additional buyback events were held in 2014, 2015, and 2016.

Yeager’s proposal is scheduled to be discussed at the March 6 Board of Supervisors meeting in San Jose.

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