Gun Sense

The Compton City Council has voted unanimously to ban handgun ownership in the predominantly black and Latino suburb south of Los Angeles. It is bound to run into trouble with the letter of state law sooner or later, but it is the spirit that counts, and we admire the council’s spirit.

Compton, which has a population of 93,000, had a murder rate last year twice as high as that of the City of Los Angeles and of the state itself.

Compton has been plagued with gang violence, drug traffic and a high crime rate. Too many people are dying, the council concluded.

Unfortunately, California state laws that permit gun ownership will no doubt invalidate Compton’s attempt to ban guns. In 1982 a San Francisco ordinance controlling gun ownership was overruled by an appellate court that deferred to state law.

The Compton council’s attempt to stem its increasing violence may be futile, but common sense about handguns has to start somewhere. Maybe the next time, or the next.