Bill in Congress Would Outlaw Sale of Semiautomatics

Sen. Howard M. Metzenbaum (D-Ohio), a leading congressional advocate of gun controls, on Tuesday announced legislation to prohibit the importation and sale of new semiautomatic weapons such as the AK-47 assault rifle that killed five children in a Stockton schoolyard last week.

Metzenbaum said he was prompted to introduce the bill by news reports that sales of AK-47s and similar rifles have increased across the nation since the senseless murders.

“Instead of reacting in horror to the massacre of five innocent children, a frightening number of people are rushing out to buy these weapons while they are still easy to get,” he said. “We must stop the run on these deadly weapons.”

Under the bill, the same restrictions that apply to machine guns would be imposed on semiautomatic assault weapons. Current federal law bans the sale of new machine guns, and the resale of existing machine guns requires a rigorous background check of potential purchasers.

These background investigations would identify a purchaser’s record of arrests and convictions and would require law enforcement authorities to certify in writing that a gun was not being purchased for illegal purposes.

Metzenbaum said that his bill would have prevented Patrick Edward Purdy from purchasing the AK-47 that he used in the Stockton murders. Although he had a criminal record, Purdy purchased his weapon over the counter at an Oregon store after showing standard identification and completing a federal form. Similar regulations apply in California. Both states have a waiting period before a purchaser can take possession of a pistol, but there is no such wait for rifles.

In California, meanwhile, more momentum built for proposed state legislation, drafted by a statewide law enforcement coalition and aimed at banning the manufacture and sale of certain semiautomatic, military-style guns.

Los Angeles County supervisors voted 3 to 1 to support the proposed bill by Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles), which also would require permits for Californians who now legally own the controversial firearms.

Orange County Reaction

In Orange County, Sheriff-Coroner Brad Gates and three supervisors contacted by The Times said they favor a ban or restrictions on the sale of such weapons.

“I am opposed to the sale of semiautomatic weapons to the general public,” Gates said. The law should be changed to require an extensive background review, as with pistol purchases, or maybe it should require a firearms license, “or ban them altogether,” he added.

Gates said he is a “strong supporter of the right to bear arms” for hunting and self-defense. “But these are designed for military actions, and it should be legislated so that’s all that they are used for. . . . They have no value in the sporting world. They are designed for the military and combative use.”

The three supervisors also said that they do not favor across-the-board gun control, but that the assault-style weapons were not meant to be used by the public.

“I have always maintained that we clearly need to ban weapons that serve no recreational purpose,” said Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez, a former police officer. “And the kind we have here have frankly found their way to the streets and into the hands of criminals, and the consequences have been terrible.” Police are especially vulnerable because the military-style weapons are being used by gangs and have a firepower that exceeds the officers’ weapons, he said.

“Even though I’ve always been a person who values the constitutional right to bear arms, we’ve gone beyond the scope to have those types of weapons available,” Supervisor Don R. Roth said. “This type of weapon goes beyond the rights of persons to bear arms. They belong in the hands of the military only.”

“I certainly support the ban and have been critical a long time of the sale of this type of weapon,” said Thomas F. Riley, chairman of the Board of Supervisors and a retired Marine Corps general. While Riley, who said he enjoys hunting and shooting, does not support restricting sale of guns for those purposes, he added: “It just seems to me that there’s not much justification” for semiautomatic weapons.

Both Gates and Riley complimented the decision by the owner of The Grant Boys store in Costa Mesa, one of the largest sporting goods firms in Orange County, to voluntarily stop selling the assault-style guns to the public. Riley said he wants to write the owner, Randy Garell, a letter “of congratulations as a good citizen.” Gates called the move a “responsible decision. It took a lot of guts for him to do what he did.”

In Compton, the City Council unanimously approved an ordinance to prohibit the sale or possession of all semiautomatic firearms except pistols.

“Compton is in the vanguard of doing some good things,” said Mayor Walter R. Tucker.

Compton has been searching for a way to shut down a well-known gun shop, known as Boulevard Auto, where Jesse Jackson made a speech against guns in the course of his presidential primary campaign.

Pistols Exempted

The new ordinance, which takes effect in 30 days, exempts semiautomatic pistols from the ban. Last year, the council adopted an ordinance against handguns but rescinded it two weeks later.

Efforts in California to outlaw semiautomatics such as the AK-47, Uzi, AR-15 and MAC-10 have failed in Legislature over the last several years, primarily because of the uncompromising opposition of the politically influential National Rifle Assn.

Sold legally across the counter to anyone 18 or older who can provide standard identification, the rifles have become a favorite of street gangs, drive-by gunmen and drug dealers, especially in Los Angeles.

Testifying before county supervisors Tuesday, Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block acknowledged that gun-control opponents may fear the state legislation, expected to be introduced next week, but he assured the board that it would not result in confiscation of firearms from people with a legitimate reason to own them--hunters, target shooters and collectors.

Sending a Message

“I think it’s important that we send a message to Sacramento that people here are concerned about this,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Ed Edelman. “What we’re trying to do is prevent the use of these weapons by drying up the supply.”

Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who cast the only no vote, argued that while the proposed state legislation calls for tougher penalties for criminals who use semiautomatic rifles, it doesn’t go far enough.

“It’s time to get serious and push for a mandatory life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for teen-agers, juveniles or adults utilizing automatic weapons in a criminal act,” Antonovich said.

In a related matter, Police Chief Daryl F. Gates urged Gov. George Deukmejian to take the political lead in ridding California of military-style assault weapons. Deukmejian last week indicated that he is sympathetic to such a plan, but said he wants to study it more fully.

In a letter dated last Thursday, two days after the Stockton schoolyard massacre by a deranged gunman, Gates said he believed in the constitutional right to bear arms but said that “recent events have convinced me that we should stop thinking in terms of ‘gun control’ and start doing something about a reasonable right to bear arms.”

“A reasonable right to bear arms does not mandate that weapons designed and built for the specific purpose of killing human beings, on battlefields, be made available to the general public,” he told Deukmejian. “Yet, through terrible errors in judgment, we have allowed that to happen. It is time to correct those errors.”

Gates, a potential Republican candidate for governor next year, noted that military assault weapons often end up “in the hands of criminals and crazies,” and it is time that these guns are “legislated out of the hands of killers.”

Getlin reported from Washington and Ingram from Sacramento. Contributing to this story were Times staff writers Marcida Dodson in Orange County, Victor Merina in Los Angeles and Michelle Fuetsch in Compton.