City Ban May Include .50-Caliber Handguns

Los Angeles City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo said Friday that he will urge the City Council to ban the sale and possession of .50-caliber handguns such as the Smith & Wesson revolvers that are expected to soon hit the market nationwide.

In a letter to Council President Alex Padilla, Delgadillo said he will include the new weapon in a proposal that his office is drafting, at the council’s request, that would ban .50-caliber rifles.

“The residents of Los Angeles will not stand for the super-sizing of handguns,” Delgadillo said in a written statement. “These unnecessarily enormous weapons pose a danger and do not serve any justifiable purpose.

“Anyone who thinks this gun is going to be used for hunting is correct,” Delgadillo said. “It is going to be used for hunting human beings.”

Bob Scott, chairman of Smith & Wesson Corp., called Delgadillo’s reaction “premature and overly dramatic.”

“People should take a look at the actual product and its specifications before they jump to conclusions about what this weapon may or may not do,” he said. “This revolver does not have the range a rifle has, and it is designed for big game hunting and silhouette shooting.”

The Springfield, Mass., company announced earlier this week that it would begin distributing the .50-caliber Magnum revolver next month. The firm describes it as the world’s most powerful commercially produced revolver. The firearm, expected to cost as much as $989, has double the power of most assault rifles used in America.

Gun enthusiasts and some law enforcement officials say they doubt the gun will become popular among criminals because of its weight, size and expense.

Luis Tolley, director of state legislation for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, applauded Delgadillo’s decision Friday. “There is no justification for having this kind of weapon,” he said.

Delgadillo’s office began working on a proposal to ban .50-caliber rifles, which are used by SWAT units and the military, at the request of the council late last year. His office has submitted a draft to the L.A. Police Commission, which is expected to act within the next two weeks.