Seaside council advances ordinance regulating sale, storage of firearms; expands buffer to 1,000 feet

The Seaside City Council on the first reading introduced an ordinance that would amend Seaside Municipal Code Titles 5 and 17 to add security, operating and zoning requirements for the storage and retail sale of firearms and ammunition in the city. Council members voted to increase the minimum buffer around schools, parks and licensed child-care centers from the staff-recommended 300 feet to 1,000 feet; the measure will return for final action at a subsequent meeting.

City staff said the ordinance does not ban firearm purchases or ownership in Seaside; instead it would create a new use category that requires a use permit, an annual firearms dealer license issued by the police chief, and detailed security and storage standards for any business selling or storing firearms. "This ordinance is not designed to prevent the sale of firearms or to keep people from acquiring them," Andrew Myrick, the city's economic development and community planning manager, told the council. "It is intended to ensure that if a firearms store opens within Seaside it would be a secure facility."

The measure would restrict where such businesses could locate, authorizing them only in commercial…