Most of County’s Legislative Delegation is Gun-Shy

Sen. Larry Stirling has a 12-gauge shotgun he has used for skeet shooting, a hobby taught him by a former aide. Assemblyman Robert Frazee has several guns left him by his late father, an avid hunter.

But the rest of the members of San Diego County’s legislative delegation are gun-less.

“My husband had a gun when we got married, but I made him get rid of it,” said Sen. Marian Bergeson, a Republican who represents a wide swath of North County’s backcountry. “I hate guns. They scare me.”

Assemblyman Steve Peace (D-La Mesa) said he is “not a gun person.”

“I think guns are used more often to kill people you love than people you hate,” he said.

Sen. Wadie Deddeh (D-Bonita) said he “respects the rights of people who have a legitimate reason” to own guns.

“But I am so scared of them I wouldn’t want any of them anywhere near my home,” he said.

Assemblywoman Sunny Mojonnier (R-Encinitas) said she went duck hunting with friends a few years ago, but “the only shots I took were with a camera.”

Sen. William Craven (R-Oceanside), a Marine Corps veteran, said he gave up shooting more than 35 years ago.

“I laid down my weapons when I left the U. S. Marine Corps, and I haven’t had one in my hands since,” he said.

Stirling, a San Diego Republican, said he has been too busy in recent years to go shooting. But he said he enjoys skeet shooting, the sport that uses clay disks thrown from traps to simulate bird hunting.

“If I had any time for recreation, I’d be a skeet shooter,” he said. “It’s fun.”

Frazee, a Republican from Carlsbad, said he has not been hunting in more than 20 years.

“I used to go with my dad because it was important to him,” Frazee said. “But I don’t really care for it anymore.”

Assemblywoman Carol Bentley (R-El Cajon) said she doesn’t own a gun, but might someday soon.

“My husband was just saying that we ought to buy a gun,” she said. “It’s just something we’ve been meaning to do but haven’t gotten around to.”