COUNTY SUPERVISORS BACK GUN-REFORM LEGISLATION

On the same day a Navy sailor shot and wounded two people in Frederick, Md., before being killed by police, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to support proposed state and federal gun-reform legislation.

Under an item brought forward by Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, board members voted 3-2 to support universal background checks on firearms purchases and other measures designed to reduce gun violence.

The motion, supported by Chairman Nathan Fletcher and Supervisor Nora Vargas and opposed by Supervisors Joel Anderson and Jim Desmond, was largely ceremonial.

But Lawson-Remer said it was important that the elected board reflect the wishes of most voters who have registered support for enacting stricter gun-control measures in the wake of recent multiple mass shootings. “We are joining with concerned Americans across the nation to call for universal background checks and investments in communities impacted by gun violence, common-sense measures that will help our neighborhoods and keep guns out of the wrong hands,” Lawson-Remer said in a statement.

“We are heartbroken by the constant drumbeat of mass shootings, but instead of becoming desensitized we are taking action,” she added.

The measure approved Tuesday makes no direct changes to local government rules. Rather, it amends the county’s legislative program to formally support state and federal legislation requiring background checks for firearms purchases.

In her statement, Lawson-Remer cited the recent shootings in Georgia that claimed eight lives, including those of six Asian women.