San Francisco police buy from gun manufacturers who violated federal law

English

The city has confirmed that half of the gun dealers who sell guns to the San Francisco police have violated federal law at least once.

The San Francisco Police Department says it only buys from suppliers in good standing with the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. However, the department also acknowledged that it lacks an “internal process” to account for dealers who may be in good standing at the time of sale but have previously broken the law.

The results of a review requested by Supervisor Katherine Stefani early last month following mass shootings in Half Moon Bay and Monterey Park and a bloody shooting in Oakland that left one dead and seven injured.

“While the procurement process is robust and includes many checks and balances, the department is interested in considering the possible addition of guardrails,” Stefani wrote in a March 1 letter, SFPD policy director Diana Oliva-Aroche.

From now on, the SFPD said it would “confirm that suppliers have no violations before completing any purchases.”

The review, sparked by inquiries from gun control advocates and city officials, comes after a report by the sci-fi chapter of nonprofit Brady United Against Gun Violence. They found that at least 90 law enforcement agencies in California bought firearms from sellers found to be violating federal laws, not just once, but up to a dozen times in one case.

Gulf problem

Due to its long history of gun control, San Francisco has some of the strictest gun control enforcement in the nation. Regulators banned the sale and possession of “ghost guns” in 2021, five years after gun dealers required videotaping of firearm sales and reporting of ammunition sales to the SFPD.

Legislative efforts have effectively driven gun dealers out of the city. The last resistance, High Bridge Arms, was closed in 2015 after 10 federal violations were committed and the license was lost.

But scores of gun dealers are still selling guns in the East Bay and the Peninsula, while police across the state are still buying guns from vendors cited by federal regulators, according to Brady United.

The San Jose Police Department spent more than $1 million from 2015 to 2021 on a hometown dealer, LC Action, who has violated federal gun laws at least 40 times since 1995.

During this six-year period, LC Action maintained contracts with 67 California law enforcement agencies, despite the fact that in 2005 a federal investigator proposed that its license be revoked.

Stephanie, SFPD and Brady United did not respond to requests for comment.

English