Glendale to debate ban on gun shows after Newtown tragedy

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The Glendale City Council is set to discuss banning gun shows from the Civic Auditorium at Tuesday night’s council meeting.

The council has several options, which include canceling rental contracts with the Glendale Gun Show for upcoming events, banning all gun sales on city property outright or allowing the gun show to operate through the rest of the year and then ban the activity, according to a city report.

The next gun show at the auditorium is slated for March.

Last week, dozens of gun show advocates packed City Council chambers to try to prevent the proposed ban from going on Tuesday’s agenda but to no avail. Although Councilman Rafi Manoukian, who suggested the ban, said the gun supporters made a compelling argument, they didn’t change his mind.

With Mayor Frank Quintero on his side, Manoukian needs only one more council member’s support to bar the events.

Manoukian first floated the proposal in December, citing the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in which 27 people died, including 20 first-graders.

It’s not the first time a proposed ban on gun shows on civic property has been brought before the council. Manoukian unsuccessfully suggested the move in 2006. The gun show has been at the Civic Auditorium since 1992.

Gun show advocates said last week that canceling their event, which they described as a family affair, would not curb gun violence. However, Manoukian said the city shouldn’t be in the business of profiting from gun sales, especially when they occur near a school.

Glendale Community College is across the street from the Civic Auditorium.

Whether the city can even ban gun possession, sales or both on its property is open to some legal debate, according to a city report that cites legal opposition to Alameda County’s short-lived ban on gun shows at its fairgrounds.

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