Summit Scheduled on Gun Violence

Prosecutors and public safety officials will meet Monday at Los Angeles City Hall for a four-hour public summit about gun law enforcement.

City Councilman Michael Feuer and Women Against Gun Violence Chairwoman Ann Reiss Lane organized the conference, with the help of Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard Parks, to discuss how government agencies can better collaborate to reduce gun violence.

The conference comes amid sweeping changes in California’s gun laws and a nationwide spate of shootings in schools and workplaces, including one three months ago at a Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills. This year, California limited handgun purchases to one a month, mandated trigger locks on all firearms sold here, clamped down on gun shows and banned the sale of Saturday night specials and assault weapons.

“Even as we have been toughening our gun laws, they are only words on paper,” Feuer said. “They are only as good as the enforcement that accompanies them . . . . We can do so much better if we work as a team.”

Among those scheduled to attend the conference are U.S. Atty. Alejandro Mayorkas; Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti; Sheriff Lee Baca; Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky; Assemblyman Jack Scott (D--Pasadena), who chairs a committee on gun violence; City Atty. James Hahn; City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, who chairs the council’s Public Safety Committee; and Chuck Michel, a Los Angeles lawyer for the National Rifle Assn.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) will deliver the keynote address from Washington, D.C., via a video-conference link. Participants will discuss gun tracing, weapons trafficking, gun shows and how to strengthen alliances between local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.

The Southern California Gun Law Enforcement Conference will be held in City Council chambers from 9:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Free parking is available in Lot 2 at 300 E. Temple St.