City of Goleta Reminds Residents of Safe Gun Storage Ordinance

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Goleta- October 17, 2023 – Keeping the public safe, and in particular our children, is of upmost importance to the City of Goleta. One important way we can all help avoid a tragedy from happening is to ensure weapons located inside a residence are always stored safely and out of reach from children. As a reminder, the City of Goleta has a Safe Gun Storage Ordinance (Ordinance) which requires firearm owners to store their firearms in residences (subject to specified exemptions) in a locked container or to disable it with a trigger lock.

“Properly storing a firearm is not only the law in Goleta, but it can also save a life,” said City of Goleta Community Resource Deputy Ehren Rauch. He added, “All guns should be stored unloaded and locked with a firearms safety device and stored in a locked container or safe. Ammunition should be stored in a location separate from the firearm. By taking these precautions, gunowners can help prevent accidental and intentional injuries or deaths that can occur as a result of children who gain access to a firearm inside a home.”

The Safe Gun Storage Ordinance (9.10.030) passed by the Goleta City Council in August 2022 can be found in the City of Goleta Municipal Code and states:

9.10.030 Safe Storage of Firearms in a Residence Required.

No person shall keep a firearm in any residence unless the firearm is stored in a locked container, or is disabled with a trigger lock, except:

When the firearm is carried upon the person who owns the firearm.
When cleaning or maintaining the firearm.
When using the firearm for lawful self-defense.

The City distributed flyers on Goleta’s Safe Gun Storage Ordinance to the two gun shops in Goleta. View a copy of the flyer here and attached.

The City of Goleta is one of more than forty jurisdictions in California to adopt a Safe Storage Ordinance to help reduce both intentional and accidental injury and/or death to children from access to firearms inside a residence.

If you have a firearm, or find one, and would like to safely and properly dispose of it, please call the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office at (805) 681-4100.