The mayor said he feels strongly about gun control measures after what happened in Connecticut and he also pointed out the number of homicides in San Francisco has gone up. There have been 67 so far this year.
Prayers for a fallen teen were recited quietly near the place in the Bayview neighborhood where Montreal Blakely was murdered on Saturday. The San Francisco Archdiocese holds these services at sites where homicides occur.
"Our young people are dying and they are the future of our communities," said Julio Escobar from the San Francisco Archdiocese.
Lee said now is the time to take action to try to stop these shootings and said he is supporting local legislation on gun control. Supervisor Malia Cohen will introduce the two proposed laws on January 15. The first one would ban certain ammo-like, hollow point bullets.
"It's hollowed out so that on impact it has the ability to explode in a larger radius and when it hits the body then it becomes this kind of shrapnel that grinds its way through the body in a larger way," said Lee.
The mayor says this type of ammo was designed for law enforcement, not for people on the streets of San Francisco. Andre Campbell, M.D., is a surgeon at San Francisco General's trauma center.
"The larger weapons create absolute devastation in the victims. When they strike a victim it's like a bomb going off," said Campbell.
The second proposal would require police to be notified when someone buys 500 or more rounds of ammunition used for assault weapons.
"So we can not only track those people who are buying ammunition, but frequency of purchase as you can stockpile that kind of ammunition," said San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr.
The mayor says he will reach out to other Bay Area mayors to convince them to adopt similar legislation.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said she will support or introduce a national assault weapons ban bill as well in January. Lee said he will support that too.
