The Coast News, Jan. 18, 2013

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THE COAST NEWS

MAKING WAVES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD

VOL. 27, NO. 3

Gun sales booming due to fear of bans By Rachel Stine

COAST CITIES — After a devastating mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementar y School in Connecticut last month, state and feder al politicians have introduced an array of legislation to r estrict the manufacturing and sales of guns. As a result, gun sales have exploded for local firearms stores as people rush to buy guns in case greater restrictions are passed into law. “I’ve got customers coming in dr oves,” said Shawn Stahl, the sales manager of Direct Action Solutions, a firearms store in Solana Beach. “They’re buying it now in case they are not able to do Direct Action Solutions’ sales manager Shawn Stahl stands next to a shelf that was once packed with ammunition in the Solana Beach firearms store. With the recently proposed gun bans in light of a school shooting, so in a year. store and other local firearms dealers have had difficulty maintaining stock to meet the high demands for “The shooting itself has this products that may soon be banned. Photo by Rachel Stine nothing to do with people buying the guns, ” Stahl explained. “The shooting als and 23 executive actions banning background checks for gun purchases, forced our administration to look into and limiting the manufacturing and pur- and stricter gun trafficking laws. restricting guns. The restrictions that chasing of firearms in response to the California currently has some of the they intend on imposing now are what’s public outcry after the Connecticut strictest firearm sales and purchasing forcing the gun buying spree.” school shooting. Obama’s proposals regulations in the country, and some On Wednesday, President Barack include a ban on assault weapons, limits TURN TO GUNS ON A16 Obama put forth four legislative propos- on high-capacity magazines, expanded

Issuing of new permits not on city’s menu By Bianca Kaplanek

DEL MAR — It will be at least another 45 days — and likely longer — before any new food trucks can get cooking in Del Mar. City Council unanimously agreed at the Jan. 14 meeting to again temporarily disallow the issuance of any new permits for the mobile businesses while staff continues to study potential regulations. Food truck operators who already have business licenses have until Jan. 31 to renew them. As of Jan. 16, three of the nine had done so, Planning Director Kathy Garcia said. The original moratorium

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was adopted Nov. 19 following resident concerns about public safety after the Wednesday night food truck gatherings began in October in the parking lot at 1601 Coast Blvd., across from Powerhouse Community Center. While area restaurant owners also said they didn’t support the e vent because they feared a drop in business, state law precludes cities from banning the trucks because they may add competition to bric k-and-mortar Area residents check out a food truck gathering in November in the parking lot on Coast Boulevard in Del Mar. Council members halted the establishments. “You can’t outright ban it issuance of any new permits until an ordinance is created to regulate the trucks. A second 45-day moratorium was adopted at the Jan. 14 meeting. Photo by Bianca Kaplanek

Two Sections, 40 pages

BREAKING THE MOLD San Diego artist Michael Carini overcomes adversity, and makes giving back to the community one of his top priorities. A13

Arts & Entertainment . A13 Food & Wine . . . . . . . . A10 Legals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A17 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A15

WELLNESS WEEK January 19-26, 2013

Report: San Diegans drive more than those in L.A. By Jared Whitlock

COAST CITIES — L os Angeles might ha ve more traffic, but San Diego takes the cake for most miles driven. That’s according to a new report measuring San Diego’s quality of life. On average, San Diegans traveled 12.8 miles per day by car in 2011. It’s a slight decline from 2010’s total, but it’s still higher than L.A.’s average of 10.7 and San Francisco’s 7.7. “San Diego’s limited public transportation is a major factor in us being higher,” said Sarah Benson, communications director with Equinox Center, the nonprofit and nonpartisan group that pr oduced the report. Benson said that San Diegans use less public transportation than most cities, largely because w e have fewer options. L.A. is better connected b y subways, light-rail and shuttles, which data r eflects. More than 6 percent of residents in L.A. take public transit to work, compared with only 3 percent in San Diego, according to the report. Also, when stacked up against other major cities, San Diego’s public transit is concentrated in select spots. “Our public tr ansit doesn’t reach most parts of the county,” Benson said. “Residents that live far from work have to drive.” The drawbacks from a

greater number of hours on the road? More traffic congestion and e ventually an increase in fuel costs, the report states. And then there are issues like air and noise pollution as well as greenhouse gases. “We look at air quality in the report, which is negatively impacted b y more cars,” Benson said. “We have a lot of interrelated problems where solving one could help fix others.” But Benson believes carcentric attitudes are changing. Recently, she said that many residents and representatives have pushed back against San Diego’s dependence on fr eeways. Most notably, a judge last month ruled that SANDAG violated state law by failing to account for greenhouse gases and climate change in its long-term transportation plan. Rather than focus so much on infrastructure for cars, the judge ar gued SANDAG should place more emphasis on g reen transportation. Meanwhile, individual cities within the county are trying to dissuade residents from using their cars. The city of San Diego and the unincor porated areas clocked in the most miles traveled on their roads, according to the report. In North County , Oceanside had the highest TURN TO DRIVING ON A16

TURN TO PERMITS ON A16

HOW TO REACH US (760) 436-9737 Calendar: calendar@coastnewsgroup.com Community News: community@coastnewsgroup.com Letters to the Editor: letters@coastnewsgroup.com

Cars travel on Coast Highway 101 in Encinitas. On average, San Diegans drove 12.8 miles per day in 2011, even higher than those in Los Angeles. An Equinox Center study recommends more public transportation and bicycle ridership to bring this number down. Photo by Jared Whitlock

WELLNESS WEEK FESTIVAL

DOWNTOWN ENCINITAS MAINSTREET ASSOCIATION & Present

JAN. 18, 2013

FREE Classes - Exams Treatments + Exclusive Discounts Yoga Massage Acupuncture Personal Training Chiropractic & More

Saturday, January 19, 10am-4pm at the Encinitas Library Performances & Demos - Product Samples Health Screenings - Free Treatments Kids Activities - Raffle Drawings More info at www.encinitas101.com


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