Ammunition Sales Banned by L.A. Before 2 Holidays

Los Angeles on Wednesday became the first city in the nation to ban the sale of ammunition for one week before New Year’s Eve and the Fourth of July.

The ban, signed into law by Mayor Tom Bradley, is an attempt to curtail the random firing of guns into the air on those holidays.

The City Council approved the ban unanimously on Tuesday and Bradley quickly signed it so that it will be in effect this Fourth of July.

The council began considering the ban last January and has heard little opposition in the ensuing months, according to its sponsors, Councilmen Richard Alatorre and Joel Wachs.

“This is not gun control,” Alatorre said at a press conference Wednesday. “The City Council was able to rise above whatever their political philosophies are about gun control.”

At a public hearing Tuesday, only one person spoke out against the ban. T.J. Johnston, who said he was chairman of the Gunowners React Committee, told the council an ammunition ban would not solve the problem and complained that it would hurt legitimate businesses, such as the shooting range at which he teaches. Students would be unable to purchase ammunition necessary for lessons during the pre-holiday weeks, he said.

Johnston said later that his organization, most of whose members are residents of Orange County, is attempting to interest ammunition manufacturers into filing a lawsuit against the city to stop the ordinance.

City Atty. James K. Hahn said Wednesday that any such lawsuit had little chance of succeeding.

City and police officials have repeatedly asked gun shop owners to voluntarily curtail ammunition sales just before the holidays, Hahn said, but they do not comply. “They don’t do it . . . and the reason is greed,” Hahn said. “They make too much money.”

Hahn singled out Western Surplus Stores, which he said had a line stretching around the block on Western Avenue until 10 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.

Al Campbell, manager of Western Surplus, was unavailable for comment Wednesday, but said in January that his store stayed open “to satisfy customer demand.”

Last New Year’s Eve, eight people were injured by bullets fired into the air by celebrants, police said. Seventy people were arrested and 134 guns were confiscated.