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LA City Council Votes To Back Calif. 'Long Guns' Database

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Friday to support a statewide effort to require records of purchases of shotguns, rifles and other "long guns" be preserved like handgun purchase records.

Under current law, the state is required to destroy records of long-gun purchases five days after the transaction.

Assembly Bill 809, introduced by Democratic Assemblyman and former Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Feuer, would treat the records the same as records for handguns, beginning in 2013.

"We need to be cognizant of the fact that one-third of the crime guns in California are long guns," Feuer told the City Council on Friday.

"What this will do is provide law enforcement with an important tool to engage in the tracing of illegal weapons trafficking."

Feuer said it would also allow law enforcement heading to the scene of a domestic violence dispute know if there's a long gun in the house.

Gun rights advocates are expected to oppose the bill.

(©2010 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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