San Francisco bill would prevent private security guards from carrying guns

On Tuesday, San Francisco District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston announced that he would be introducing legislation aimed at limiting the use of guns by security guards at businesses across the city. 

The self-proclaimed "democratic socialist" said the current laws give security personell too much freedom to resort to violence to protect property, and suggested the rules should be amended to prohibit them from using weapons when there is no physical danger present. 

"As the pressure continues to mount for the district attorney to release the video tae of a Walgreens security guard shooting and killing Banko Brown," Preston began, "we also need to take some action to make sure that this never happens again."

Banko Brown, a homeless man, was shot dead by a security guard after being suspected of shoplifting snacks from the drug store.

Preston went on to announce that at Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting, he would be "calling for legislation to specifically prohibit security guards from drawing their weapons to protect property." 

"Human life is more important than property," he stated. "We need to change our local laws so that security guards cannot unholster their weapons just to protect property.

Reaction to Preston's statements was mixed, with many arguing that while the idea that life was more valuable than property had merit, his ire should be directed not at the security guards, but at the criminals putting themselves at risk by breaking the law in the first place.

"I agree human life is more important than property, but everyone has the right to defend their property and their life," Florida governor Ron DeSantis' rapid response director Christina Pushaw said. "So here's an idea… perhaps the criminals who steal other people's property should place a higher value on their own lives, and stop doing crime?"

There has been an increase in theft across the United States as of late, with big cities such as San Francisco seeing the worst of it. Videos have flooded social media showing thieves making off unhindered with thousands of dollars of goods from shops such as Target and the Apple store.