Firearm Safety Bill Vetoed by Deukmejian

Gov. George Deukmejian, who received national attention for signing two landmark gun control bills within the past year, on Friday vetoed legislation aimed at requiring novice handgun purchasers to take a course in firearm safety.

“This bill is seriously flawed,” Deukmejian said, noting that the proposal did not demand that a prospective purchaser pass the $17 course or demonstrate competence in gun safety before taking possession of a revolver or pistol.

“In other words, if you pay $17 and sit in a class without paying any attention or learning anything, you are still given a certificate which then enables you to purchase a gun,” Deukmejian said in a veto message.

The bill by Assemblyman Rusty Areias (D-Los Banos), a hunter since childhood, barely cleared the Legislature last month with the support of law enforcement officials and organizations.

For the National Rifle Assn., whose prestige as a potent political force had taken a severe beating during the past year at the hands of the Legislature and Deukmejian, the veto represented a long-sought victory.

The veto drew angry criticism from Sarah Brady, chairwoman of Handgun Control Inc., who charged that Deukmejian apparently “felt he had to throw a bone to the NRA. It’s just too bad that the NRA’s bone was a gun safety bill.”

The NRA had argued that firearms safety education should be voluntary and not be imposed by government. Like Deukmejian, the NRA also criticized the proposal as riddled with defects.

Although he never signaled how he would act on the legislation, Deukmejian’s veto was not unexpected. Even as the bill survived one hurdle after another in the Legislature, some supporters worried that several provisions were so loosely written as to invite a veto.

The bill would have required first-time purchasers of revolvers and pistols to enroll in a course of up to four hours and receive a certificate before taking possession of their guns. Licensed hunters, peace officers, active and retired members of the armed forces and others who demonstrated competence in use of guns would have been exempt.

Proponents, citing accidental deaths of children who played with firearms, contended that lives would be saved if adults were required to undergo education in safety and the proper storage of guns.

“This is politics over policy,” Areias charged of Deukmejian’s action. “It is a nonsense veto by a supposed common-sense governor.”

Areias said he believed Deukmejian rejected the bill on the advice of Assembly Republicans, who voted against it. He said during discussions with the governor’s assistants that “none of the reasons mentioned in his veto message were concerns mentioned to me.”

In the veto message, Deukmejian said a letter Areias sent to him pointed out that the bill contained no requirement that a student must pass the course in order to receive a safety certificate.

Until last year, Deukmejian was a bedrock opponent of imposing new controls on guns. But in the wake of the murders of five school children in Stockton by a crazed gunman with an assault rifle, he signed the nation’s first ban on paramilitary assault weapons.

He followed up earlier this year by signing a far-reaching bill that extended to all guns the 15-day waiting period previously imposed only on handguns, another first in the country.

The actions earned him praise by gun control advocates and angry condemnation by gun owner organizations.

In vetoing the Areias bill, Deukmejian said the assault weapons and waiting period laws satisfy a “compelling need” to put firearms off limits to criminals and the mentally ill. He seemed to indicate he saw no similar need to be addressed by the Areias bill.

Additionally, he expressed concern that the legislation was not limited strictly to handgun purchasers and suggested it also might apply to shotguns and rifles.

Brian Judy, lobbyist for the NRA, applauded the veto and said his organization favors distributing safety brochures at gun stores and instituting voluntary gun safety classes in the schools for children.