Guns: Better Safe Than Sorry . . .

Who among us has not shuddered over one of the stories? At least once a week--usually near the bottom of some newspaper column or for a few flickering television seconds--there it is: Two children innocently playing come upon the handgun one of their parents purchased for home security. Curiosity overwhelms and, in the briefest of moments, childish high-spirits and parental carelessness are transformed into irremediable disaster.

Thursday, the state Senate can take a big step toward saving lives by passing a simple, common-sense proposal that first-time handgun purchasers be required to take a brief course in the safe handling and storage of firearms. Introduced by Assemblyman Rusty Areias (D-Los Banos)--himself a hunter and gun owner--the bill already has passed the Assembly.

The narrowness of the vote there earlier this week belies the proposal’s obvious merits. Before buying a handgun, the purchaser would be required to take a safety course not exceeding four hours in length or pass a basic safety examination. The cost would be $17. Current and retired law- enforcement officials, active and former members of the military, licensed hunters and holders of concealed-weapon permits all would be exempt from the process. If the measure is signed into law, the state’s Department of Justice will begin setting up convenient safety courses around the state next year, and the course requirement would become effective on Jan. 1, 1992.

The Areias bill stands squarely in the tradition of the other rational firearms regulations passed by the Legislature over the past year. Their singular characteristic--and the thing that has made them a national model--is the balance they strike between the demands of public safety and the rights of serious-minded sportsmen and hunters.

Like those other measures, this bill is strongly supported by the state’s leading law-enforcement officials and opposed only by the National Rifle Assn. The Senate should pass it quickly and send it on to Gov. George Deukmejian for his signature.