City Asks Fairgrounds to Not Renew Gun Show

The city of Del Mar publicly opposed the Del Mar gun show on Monday night. City Council voted to approve a resolution that asks the 22^nd District Agricultural Association, which manages the fairgrounds, to not renew the Crossroads of the West Gun Show's contract for events in the future.

The resolution also seeks to remove any use of “Del Mar” in gun show promotions where it seems an endorsement from the city. The gun show is often referred to as the “Del Mar Gun Show.”

The resolution reads, "any advertising of previously scheduled gun shows shall not use 'Del Mar' in any form of advertising which implies endorsement by the City of Del Mar and all advertising and signage should be properly identified as hosted by the 'Fairgrounds' or '22nd District Agricultural Association' and not the City of Del Mar."

The show has been under fire for the past few weeks, in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary killing spree in Newtown, Conn. More than 1,100 area residents had signed a petition to support the city’s motion, which was unanimously approved 5-0.

City Councilman Don Mosier, who said that the idea that gun shows only sell to responsible gun owners is untrue, introduced the resolution. He also added that the last five gun shows in Del Mar netted $324,000 for the fairgrounds.

"Gun shows are a profit center for them," said Mosier.

Councilwoman Sherryl Parks added that the city is “part of the culture that needs to address this issue.”

Solana Beach resident Paul Breed one was of a handful of area residents opposed the resolution. He asked for city council to be consistent with its judgment of shows at the fairgrounds. He made correlations between alcohol related deaths and the winemakers show occurring the same weekend as the gun show, blood diamonds in association with the gem show and drowning deaths in home pools in association with the home improvement show.

Earlier this month, Leon Campbell posted this comment on Patch, “It is the peoples right to freely own and buy or sell firearms of all types in this country. It is a civil right and cannot be obliterated by some 'municipal code' or somebody's idea of a, reasonable law.”

In addition, Dexter Haight with the National Rifle Association (NRA) and resident of Ramona, spoke in support of the show.

The Crossroads of the West Gun Show is March 9-10 in Del Mar.