Children’s Access to Guns Worries Authorities

A Garden Grove police officer was patrolling a high school football game last fall when he noticed a youth following him. He demanded to know why. The boy pulled a semi-automatic handgun from his waistband.

“This is the kind of thing nobody would have expected at a football game five years ago,” said Garden Grove Police Capt. David Abrecht.

No shots were fired, but it is just one sign of how easy it has become for children and teen-agers under 17 to get guns in California--by stealing them, buying them on the black market, obtaining them through gang networks or, most often, just by taking them from home, according to Abrecht and other Orange County law enforcement officials.

“If someone really wants a handgun, they can get one regardless of their age,” Abrecht said.

In fact, the number of arrests of people under 17 for weapons violations in Orange County jumped 39% between 1983 and 1988, according to the California Attorney General’s Bureau of Crime Statistics.

The Orange County Probation Department has reported an overall increase in crimes committed by juveniles, but neither the county nor the state keep statistics about how many homicides, robberies, assaults or other offenses are committed with guns.

“The statistics really are misleading,” said Gwen Kurz, director of research for the Probation Department. “They really do underestimate the problem.”

Nevertheless, several law enforcement sources cite mounting anecdotal evidence that gun use by juveniles is on the rise.

Monday’s fatal shooting of a 12-year-old girl at the Orange Mall, allegedly by a 12-year-old boy, is only one example of recent gunplay by children. Among others:

- Sept. 16: Two people were killed and more than six others wounded in a drive-by shooting in Garden Grove. One alleged gang member later arrested and accused of pulling the trigger was a 14-year-old boy.

- Oct. 5: A 15-year-old Anaheim boy, armed with a shotgun and pistol, walked into his drama class, shot one boy in the face and held other students hostage for more than 30 minutes. The weapons found in suspect Cory Robb’s possession belonged to his parents, Anaheim police said.

- Oct. 28: Three teen-agers were wounded at a Halloween party in Huntington Beach when another teen-ager pulled out a handgun during an argument and opened fire, according to police.

“We are definitely seeing an increase in the number of kids with guns,” said Abrecht. He attributed the increase mostly to gang activity, but added, “Certainly, there are kids who aren’t in gangs who are carrying guns because it’s just a prestige kind of a thing.”

Nationwide, gun accidents are the fourth leading cause of accidental deaths for children ages 14 and under, according to Nancy Gannon, assistant director of Handgun Control Inc., a national lobbying group with offices in San Francisco.

A UC Davis Medical School study found that between 1977 and 1983, 48% of children ages 14 and under involved in unintentional shootings obtained the guns from their homes, Gannon said. “As a bereaved parent, there is little recourse,” Gannon said. Parents can sue for civil damages, and are doing so in increasing numbers, but succeed only if they can show negligence by an adult in allowing a child to gain access to a gun, she said.

California schools reported a 43% increase in the number of guns confiscated from middle-school students between 1985 and 1989, and a 50% increase in those taken away from high school students, Gannon said.

Existing laws already prohibit minors from carrying concealed or loaded weapons or ammunition without written permission from parents, and there are no simple solutions in sight, said Orange County’s top juvenile prosecutor.

“Both licit and illicit firearms are available in our society and kids get them,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. John Conley. “I’m not sure any law is going to stop that.”

KIDS AND GUNS

Number of arrests of youths under 17 fr misdemeanor and felony weapons violations:

1983 1988 % Change Orange County 209 290 +39% Statewide 4,030 5,523 +37%

Source: California Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Statistics