Gun Show Promoters Fear State Bulletin May Shoot Down Sales

Angry California gun show promoters are fearful that their multimillion-dollar-per-year industry will be crippled by a state attorney general’s office bulletin issued to law enforcement agencies last month that declares it illegal in most cases to sell handguns at the weekend events. But so far, the bulletin seems to have had little effect on the sale of such weapons.

If the law, as interpreted by the attorney general, were strictly enforced it would be a severe blow to the shows at which handgun sales make up a major part of the business. But in the six weeks since the July 3 advisory was issued to police chiefs and sheriffs throughout the state, handguns continued to be sold at the shows, and apparently only one police agency has even warned gun dealers that the law will be enforced in the future. Some local law enforcement agencies were unaware of the bulletin and some appeared to be uncertain about what is expected of them when queried by The Times.

The attorney general’s office bulletin does not cite any new laws in controlling handgun sales. Instead, it interprets several provisions in the state Penal Code, some of which have gone unenforced at gun shows. One clause, the attorney general said, prohibits state licensed handgun dealers from conducting business at the events.

Currently, licensed as well as unlicensed vendors conduct handgun transactions at the shows.

The bulletin also states that unlicensed handgun vendors must use a licensed dealer to process the sale of a handgun--which includes a criminal record check--unless the buyer is personally known to the vendor. It also points out that vendors, licensed and unlicensed, must observe a 15-day waiting period even when selling handguns to personal acquaintances.

If licensed dealers are excluded from the shows, the unlicensed vendors would have no one to legally process handgun sales at the events.

Thus, enforcement of the law, as interpreted by the attorney general’s office, would prohibit virtually all handgun sales at the weekend events, leaving only rifles and shotguns to be sold legally. The bulletin does not affect antique weapons.

The purchase of a rifle or shotgun does not require a 15-day wait or a buyer’s criminal records check under state law, but a bill by Assemblyman Lloyd G. Connelly (D-Sacramento) now under consideration in the Legislature would put sales of such weapons under the same restrictions as handguns.

Affect on Gun Shows

If passed, the law also would affect gun shows by allowing licensed gun dealers to act as brokers for sales by unlicensed vendors, but only within the jurisdiction in which they are licensed. In the meantime, gun show promoters maintain that Democratic Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp is using the bulletin as a tool in his campaign for governor. But an official in Van de Kamp’s office pointed out the bulletin was issued without any fanfare or even a press release. The gun show operators insist that handgun vendors at the events are breaking no laws and that licensed gun dealers are acting only as “agents,” not as dealers, making arrangements for sales but not actually delivering the weapons at the shows.

And the shows will go on, vowed Richard DeChambeau, executive director of the Gun Owners of California, a militantly pro-gun organization retained by the promoters of the events to represent them in their opposition to the attorney general’s bulletin.

“They are going to conduct business as usual in a lawful manner,” DeChambeau said.

But even the Gun Owners of California’s legal counsel, Kent DeChambeau--Richard DeChambeau’s father--is not certain what is lawful when it comes to selling handguns.

The provision in the law prohibiting licensed handgun dealers from conducting business at gun shows appears clear enough:

“The business shall be carried on only in the building designated in the license.”

Can Act as ‘Agents’

Kent DeChambeau insisted, however, that this restriction does not prevent licensed dealers from going to gun shows as “agents” rather than dealers and brokering sales for non-licensed vendors at gun shows, arranging for criminal record checks and for the delivery of handguns after the required 15-day wait.

In a telephone interview, DeChambeau at first said it would be unlawful for unlicensed dealers to arrange for the sales of their own handguns by accepting deposits and filling out application forms, but shortly afterward he changed his mind, saying that a dealer somehow might be able to act as his own agent without breaking the law.

DeChambeau does agree, however, that the law requires everyone, dealer and non-dealer alike, to wait 15 days before delivering a handgun to a buyer.

“Are guys walking out with a handgun in their hand?” DeChambeau asked. “They’re not supposed to be. . . . “

Some law enforcement officials complain that handguns frequently are sold on the spot, without a 15-day wait or a criminal records check, at the largely unregulated gun shows, and a Times reporter earlier this year was able to buy handguns cash and carry at gun shows all over the state. The law enforcement officials contend that the shows provide a marketplace for stolen weapons and a source of firearms for gun smugglers, drug dealers, gang members and other criminals.

Only One Agency Acts

Still, promoters say that only one police agency has taken any action whatsoever in response to the attorney general’s bulletin.

San Bernardino police distributed copies of the bulletin as a warning at a gun show in that city on Aug. 6 but took no other action despite the open sale of handguns at the event.

“The next gun show we’ll probably be down there enforcing what the law says,” said Capt. Larry Richards. “Nobody told them to quit operating (immediately). We were putting them on notice.”

In Pomona, where police are noted for closer than ordinary scrutiny of gun shows, Chief Richard Tefank said the bulletin on handgun sales will be referred to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office for guidance before the next Pomona gun show in November.

In Fresno and Pasadena, where gun shows were held in mid and late July, police said they were unaware of the bulletin.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, in a statement approved by Undersheriff Robert Edmonds, declared that the attorney general’s bulletin will have no effect on its policing of gun shows.

“The information bulletin,” said the statement issued by Deputy Richard Dinsmoor, “will not change the Sheriff’s Department’s approach to law enforcement at gun shows. The bulletin basically provides a summary of California laws that are already in effect. . . . “

Dinsmoor said the department polices gun shows primarily by responding to complaints.

The Sheriff’s Department is responsible for law enforcement in Palmdale, where a gun show was held last weekend, but deputies did not attend the event, Dinsmoor said.

Not only were handguns on sale at the Palmdale show, but vendors were offering the weapons cash-and-carry, no waiting, no records check.