Police Back Assault Weapon Curbs, Poll Finds

Law enforcement agencies throughout the state favor sharply restricting the easy availability of military assault firearms, from an outright prohibition on such guns as the AK-47 to stiffer controls on their purchase, a legislative study said Wednesday.

The survey also found that 34% of the law enforcement agencies that participated in the study indicated that assault-style rifles are replacing handguns as the “weapon of choice” of street gangs and other criminals.

An additional 32% said the assault guns have “augmented” rather than replaced revolvers and semiautomatic pistols, creating an even more formidable “firearm arsenal of gang and criminal offenders.”

However, the study by the Assembly Office of Research found that for 62% of the responding agencies, sawed-off shotguns and rifles remain the most common crime weapon.

Cary J. Rudman, the principal consultant, conducted the 2 1/2-month study at the request of Assemblyman Robert J. Campbell (D-Richmond). He said questionnaires were sent to 496 state and local law enforcement agencies throughout California. Of those, 206 (41%) responded.

By coincidence, the report was released one week after a gunman mowed down 34 children and a teacher in a Stockton schoolyard, killing five of the children, with an AK-47. It also comes as battle lines are being drawn in the Legislature over outlawing such firearms.

The report’s immediate impact was unclear, because it appeared to give both sides of the controversy additional ammunition. For example, spokesmen for gun-owner organizations have long maintained that while semiautomatic military weapons may be gaining popularity among criminals, the most popular guns remain illegal sawed-off shotguns and civilian firearms.

On the other hand, advocates of a ban on the sale and manufacture of military semiautomatics could cite a finding that during the last five years 63% of the agencies reported a “significant increase” in the use of such weapons.

Rudman noted that the survey covered virtually all of the regions of California and all kinds of law enforcement agencies--urban, suburban and rural, police and sheriff’s departments, district attorneys and campus police forces.

The law-enforcement officials were asked what controls over assault weapons, if any, they would recommend to the Legislature and Gov. George Deukmejian.

Eleven percent responded that existing controls were adequate or that the problem was not guns but “controlling” criminals who use such weapons. However, 31% favored outright prohibition of the manufacture, sale or possession of assault weapons.

Twenty-nine percent favored applying the same restrictions on handguns to assault weapons. A handgun purchaser must wait 15 days for the gun while the state conducts a background check.