Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer has made firearm regulations a cornerstone of her policy agenda since joining the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.
In 2017, Peter Selis opened fire at a birthday party at a UTC apartment complex pool, killing one person and injuring six others. According to police reports at the time, Selis had just broken up with his girlfriend and called her during the shooting, forcing her to listen to the terror he was causing.
"I didn't think it was a real threat until he basically raised the gun towards my head, and that was the moment that I realized that I should have done something right before that," survivor Kion Gould told ABC 10News in 2018, one year after the shooting.
Another survivor, Kalli Seely, expressed the ongoing trauma: "There's a deep pain that doesn't go away."
Since joining the Board of Supervisors, Lawson-Remer has championed several gun control measures. In 2022, she played a key role in passing an ordinance banning ghost guns in San Diego County.
"If we're going to have firearms in our country, we need to have serial numbers on them so that we can trace them if they are used in a crime," Lawson-Remer said.
That same year, the county passed another ordinance requiring guns to be secured with trigger locks in homes unless the firearms are within the immediate control of an authorized person.
Lawson-Remer has also focused on holding gun manufacturers accountable.
"We know that gun violence in this country is out of control, and it's happening because you have these greedy gun companies who just don't care about the cost of human life," she stated.
Her efforts haven't been without opposition. Last October, the San Diego County Gun Owners' group opposed an ordinance that Lawson-Remer introduced requiring gun dealers that contract with the county to have clean records, submit inspection reports, and prevent theft.
The group claimed Lawson-Remer was continuing her "extremist war against law-abiding gun owners" and warned that local law enforcement agencies would have fewer options, resulting in higher prices.
Despite the pushback, Lawson-Remer remains committed to her cause.
"My commitment is to do everything we can here in San Diego County to fight that gun violence," she told ABC 10News last month.
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