Final Rounds Fired Before State Ban on Assault Rifles

In what organizers predicted would be the last event of its kind in California, more than 200 gun enthusiasts gathered on a wind-swept ridge in northern San Diego County on Saturday for an old-fashioned assault rifle shoot.

“I just had to get my hands on an Uzi one more time,” said Robert Anderson, a Westminster carpenter and a self-described “gun nut” who paid $12 to enter and up to $1 per round to fire a variety of military-style assault rifles at the event, sponsored by the Anaheim-based Gun Owners REACT Committee.

The guns figure to be beyond his legal reach once a statewide ban on assault weapons takes effect Jan. 1.

The ban was ordered by the Legislature in the wake of the Stockton schoolyard massacre last January in which a drifter using an AK-47 rifle shot and killed five children and wounded 30 other people.

Since June 1, it has been illegal for anyone other than law enforcement personnel to buy any of 56 kinds of assault weapons without a difficult-to-obtain permit from the state Department of Justice. Beginning Jan. 1, it will be illegal for civilians to possess such weapons without a permit, regardless of when they were bought.

Many of the rifles affected by the ban were available to shooters at Saturday’s event. But it was clear to those assembled that the days of free access to assault weapons in California are over. Angry gun enthusiasts call it the end of an era.

“They’re kidding themselves if they think taking away assault weapons is going to lessen the crime problem,” said Bart Montier, who showed up at Saturday’s shoot with his own antique cannon that he grumbled may soon be banned if some lawmakers have their way. “The whole thing’s absurd. You’re not going to see gang members turn in their weapons.”

Like other gun enthusiasts, Montier has focused his anger on state justice officials, saying the registration procedures for assault weapons announced thus far have been vague and confusing. “They’re basically saying, ‘Trust us,’ ” he said, “and we don’t.”

It was the chance to place his fingers on the trigger of an Israeli Gallil rifle that drew Montier to the event. “Now, that’s a gun,” he exclaimed, after firing several rounds into a row of clay pigeons set up against a hillside.

Others had their own favorites among the nearly 40 high-performance weapons available for shooting, including more than two dozen types of assault rifles and an assortment of pistols and shotguns.

For die-hard gun enthusiasts such as Elodie McKee of Burbank, who wore a T-shirt that read “Just Say No to Gun Control,” the event was as much a chance to thumb one’s nose at gun control proponents as it was a pleasurable way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

“Just by showing up here I think we make a statement,” said McKee, a part-time actress who said she joined the National Rifle Assn. last year “as a way to express my indignation at the politicians who would take away people’s right to bear arms.”

Even some who said they do not own an assault weapon and who came to the shoot out of curiosity insisted that the upcoming ban has galvanized gun enthusiasts against all forms of gun control.

“I don’t even own a gun, but I don’t think the ban makes sense,” said Glen Clover, a civil engineer who brought his 16-year-old daughter, Amy. After taking his turn on the firing line, he added, “I just may buy me a gun yet.”

Cathy Tolly, a 26-year-old registered nurse who helped organize the event, called it “a last hurrah for law-abiding citizens who happen to like assault-type weapons. Once the ban takes place, you won’t see events like this anymore.”

Tina Tropiano of Garden Grove voiced a similar opinion.

Tropiano, who said she came out of curiosity, said she wasn’t disappointed after firing several rounds with the same Uzi assault rifle that law enforcement officials say has become the weapon of choice for many gang members and drug criminals.

“It’s lightweight, it doesn’t cause much of a kick. It’s a gun easy for me to handle,” she said. “I’m glad I came,” she added, noting that she and a friend drove to San Bernardino in August for a similar shoot only to learn the sponsor decided to cancel at the last minute for fear of negative publicity.

“You say assault weapons and it’s like inviting the plague for some people, and that even includes gun lovers,” said T. J. Johnston, chairman of REACT. Saturday’s event was billed as “the first and last assault rifle shoot” and was held so far away from the sponsoring group’s home base because “this range was the only one with testosterone enough to host it,” he said.

After greeting shooters from as far away as Ventura County, he sounded a wistful note for the future of assault weapons.

“These guns have gotten such a bad rap that a lot of enthusiasts would prefer to just go into hiding and not mention them,” he said. “But I don’t feel that way. That’s why we held this thing, to show people what they’re going to be missing.”