.50-Caliber Guns Face Ban in L.A.
The Los Angeles City Council on Friday passed a ban on the sale of .50-caliber guns, further strengthening the city’s gun control laws.
Officials said banning the powerful weapons, which can pierce concrete from more than 400 yards, would help keep them off the street.
“The residents of Los Angeles will not stand for unnecessarily enormous weapons that pose a danger to the public and serve no justifiable purpose,” City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo said in a statement.
The new measure also was strongly backed by Police Chief William J. Bratton, who has said the production of the high-powered weapons reflects “the total insanity of gun manufacturers in America.”
During Friday’s council meeting, teenage brothers Niko and Theo Milonopoulos, who have been lobbying for more gun control for two years, urged the council to pass the measure.
The law, which Mayor James K. Hahn said he will sign, adds to an array of gun control measures in Los Angeles, which already has banned the sale of assault weapons and requires that firearms be sold with trigger locks.
*
Times staff writer Jessica Garrison contributed to this report.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
