Assembly OKs Control Bill on Handguns : Firearms: The proposal would require novice buyers to complete a $17 safety course or pass a basic test.

Assembly Democrats on Monday squeezed past a last-ditch Republican barricade and narrowly voted to require novice purchasers of handguns to first complete a state-approved course in gun safety.

If approved by the Senate and signed by Gov. George Deukmejian, the legislation would become the third major gun control bill enacted by the Legislature this session after a hiatus of nearly two decades.

A spokesman said Deukmejian, once a leading foe of new controls on firearms, has no position on the measure by Assemblyman Rusty Areias (D-Los Banos).

Proponents of the bill contended that accidental deaths of children playing with pistols or revolvers would be curbed if the parents were required to take a brief course in gun safety and storage before making a purchase.

The vote was 42 to 31, one more than the simple majority required and ended a partisan wrangle over whether the “aye” vote cast by Assemblyman Charles M. Calderon (D-Whittier) actually counted because he had just been sworn in as a state senator after being elected to the upper chamber last week.

Ultimately, Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) ruled that Calderon’s vote did count. Democrats cast all the favorable votes.

The bill, supported by law enforcement organizations and opposed by the National Rifle Assn., is aimed chiefly at first-time handgun purchasers who have little or no experience in handling firearms.

As a precondition to purchasing a handgun, they would be required to take a maximum four-hour course in firearm safety and storage to receive a certificate of completion. In lieu of attending the $17 course, a prospective gun buyer would be required to pass a basic safety examination.

To receive the state Department of Justice certificate, the student would not have to demonstrate proficiency in gun use. Exempted from the legislation would be current and retired law enforcement officers, active and former members of the military, licensed hunters and holders of concealed weapons permits, among others.

Areias, a longtime hunter and gun owner, argued that the bill would help prevent “a needless loss of life--mostly children.”

He and others insisted that common sense dictates that gun buyers should be knowledgeable in firearm safety just as motorists must pass an examination in order to drive an automobile.

Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks) facetiously countered that “we ought also to consider passing a state-approved swimming lesson requirement before people can install swimming pools. There are far more accidental drownings in swimming pools than accidental shootings in this state.”

Assemblyman Stan Statham (R-Oak Run), holder of a concealed weapons permit, charged that “hundreds of thousands” of Californians who now own guns but not hunting licenses would be unnecessarily inconvenienced by the bill.

For the NRA, the Assembly’s approval of the bill represented yet another setback in its efforts to kill a series of gun control bills this legislative session, starting with the recently enacted law to ban military-style assault weapons.

Likewise, the NRA, traditionally a feared political force that seldom lost a fight in the Legislature, opposed a new statute requiring Californians to wait 15 days before purchasing any firearm. Deukmejian signed both bills.

Under the Areias bill, the Department of Justice would start setting up safety courses across the state next year. Effective Jan. 1, 1992, the certificate would be required as a condition of handgun purchases.

The fight over the validity of Calderon’s vote, which for a time seemed to imperil the bill, ended when Democratic Assemblyman Steve Clute of Riverside arrived late and voted for the bill, giving it one vote more than it needed for passage.

Republican opponents of the bill had delayed through much of the day, hoping to force Calderon’s name off the roll call because he had been sworn in as a senator.