Deukmejian Voices Doubts on Gun Ban

On the eve of a crucial gun control vote, Gov. George Deukmejian declared Monday that legislation to ban military assault rifles probably would do little to get the weapons off California streets.

“I don’t think the public should get lulled into thinking that even if you have a law that bans the sale of assault-type semiautomatic weapons that this will solve the problem. . . . Nobody should be under this illusion,” Deukmejian said.

“I’m just trying to be realistic and make the point that there are so many guns out there and available. For the criminal element who wants to get these guns, they are going to get them one way or the other.”

Deukmejian, who was in Washington attending a National Governors’ Assn. meeting, said he continues to support a ban on these weapons, such as the AK-47 assault rifle, used increasingly by drug dealers and street gangs. But he made it clear he will not intervene directly in the legislative debate, nor use his influence to lobby for passage of assault weapon bills scheduled for votes today in committees of both houses of the Legislature.

His future lobbying efforts, he added, depend upon whether the warring factions can reach a “consensus” on their own.

Deukmejian’s remarks came during a press conference in which he gave cautious support for efforts to postpone offshore drilling along the Central California coast. The governor, who has announced that he will not seek a third term in 1990, also reiterated his intention to keep at arm’s length, temporarily at least, from the Republican primary race to succeed him.

The gun control issue, which was given strong impetus by last month’s schoolyard shootings in Stockton, is one of the most divisive to go before the Legislature in years.

The two bills to ban assault weapons are heavily opposed by the National Rifle Assn. And today’s vote in the Assembly Public Safety Committee is considered so close that the fate of the measure could hinge on a single member.

In Sacramento Monday, Assemblyman Mike Roos (D-Los Angeles), author of the Assembly measure, was considering some major amendments to the bill in hopes of obtaining its approval. A source close to Roos said the amendments, if offered, would narrow the focus of his bill by banning only specifically named assault weapons, such as the AK-47, Uzi, AR-15 and Ingram Mac-10, and roughly two dozen other guns.

The amendments also would delete from the bill a provision establishing a commission to review any new weapons as they came on the market to determine whether they also should be banned.

Deukmejian has conditioned his support for an assault weapon ban on a requirement that the legislation not bar ownership of rifles commonly used in hunting. Authors of the two bills pending in the Legislature contend they have met that test.

But on Monday, the governor once again declined to take a position on the bills, saying he was unfamiliar with their specific provisions. He said, however, his public statements showing general support for a ban have already been a help and that the rest is up to the Legislature.

“The degree of our involvement depends generally on what kind of a consensus we see building in the Legislature,” Deukmejian said. “I’ve indicated what’s acceptable to me. I think they want some signal that if a bill is passed and comes to me, would I sign or veto it. I’ve given them those indications.”

Pressed by reporters as to why he has been reluctant to step in and help craft a bill acceptable to both sides, Deukmejian replied: “The legislation was already there even before this tragic incident happened in Stockton. I don’t want to go in and try to take the legislation away from the authors.”

The governor also said he agrees with Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates that the assault weapons probably ought to be banned by federal law, but contends that even that is unlikely to do much good. Nor, he said, would imposition of a 15-day waiting period on the sale of all guns, as he has proposed, prevent tragedies like the Stockton shootings, which claimed the lives of five children.

Oil-Drilling Issue

On the issue of offshore drilling, Deukmejian said he doesn’t have “any problem” supporting the efforts of Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson and other members of the California congressional delegation to seek a delay in the sale of oil leases off the Central California coast. President Bush, in his budget address, announced an indefinite delay in the sale of leases off Northern and Southern California, but made no mention of the Central California tracts.

Deukmejian, however, said oil drilling should go forward if studies eventually show it can be done in an environmentally safe manner.