Politics & Government
Santa Monica Councilman Asks for Exploration of Ban on Ammunition
The Santa Monica City Council also holds a moment of silence to remember the victims of Friday's shooting.
Santa Monica City Councilman Tony Vazquez said Tuesday he believes the city should explore a ban on ammunition following a deadly shooting rampage in the city.
"I don’t know if we have the authority or the power in the city to ban ammo, especially some of these clips," Vazquez said at Tuesday night council meeting. "I guess we still don't know where this individual was able to buy them, but I understand he was able to pick them up within the last five days."
He said he hopes the shooter was not able to purchase the ammunition in Santa Monica.
"I don’t know if there is anything we could do, but I'd like to see if we could at least direct the staff to look into that would ban ammo and especially these high powered rifles you see," Vazquez said. "While I know this is a tough issue at the federal level, what I think we should do is make a statement locally if we can."
"Those kinds of things, we will certainly be looking at what we as an individual city can do," O'Connor said. The council also observed a moment of silence during the meeting to honor the victims of the shooting.
Police on Sunday identified the suspect, John Zawahri, who would have turned 24 Saturday. He was shot and killed by police in the campus library Friday.
Zawahri had as many as 20 ammunition clips, according to Santa Monica Police.
In May, the city of Los Angeles banned the possession of large-capacity ammunition clips within city limits.
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