City Council Supports Plan to Restrict Gun Dealers : Firearms: Proposed ordinance would let zoning administrators hold hearings on applications to sell weapons and allow them to limit new stores. A final vote is set for Oct. 14

The City Council signaled Tuesday that there is more than enough support for an ordinance that would put new restrictions on gun dealers who want to open stores in Los Angeles.

Eleven of 12 members present voted in favor of the measure that would give zoning administrators authority to hold hearings before a gun shop can open and to consider such problems as the concentration of such stores in a neighborhood.

The ordinance would empower officials to deny a permit for a particular site or to limit such things as a store’s hours and the sale of single bullets.

The ordinance was first proposed in 1989. It was revived after the Los Angeles riots, when some gun stores were looted. It has been endorsed by the Police Department, the Planning Commission and the City Council’s Public Safety Committee.

The vote Tuesday was one shy of the number needed to approve the ordinance outright. But when the measure comes before the council again Oct. 14, it will need only eight votes to pass. It would not affect about 1,000 gun stores already in operation in Los Angeles.

Councilman Hal Bernson voted against the measure. The Westside Firearms Assn., an affiliate of the National Rifle Assn., also has come out against the proposed ordinance.

Sal Grammatico, a member of the firearms group, attended the council meeting Tuesday but stormed out of the chamber when Council President John Ferraro would not allow him to speak. Outside, he said the council is improperly using its power over land use to foist gun control on law-abiding merchants.

“This is a safety issue, not a land-use issue, Grammatico said. “The council is trying to bypass the Police Commission.”

Under city law, the Police Commission reviews gun store applications. That would remain unchanged under the new ordinance. The measure would add another layer of review and the public would be notified of gun store applications.

Bernson, like Grammatico said the ordinance is not needed. He called it a “gross overreaction” and an obstacle “for people who want to do business and for people who want to buy guns for sporting events and protection.”

Failing to sway his colleagues, he still pushed for and won a vote to have the Planning Commission consider an addition to the proposal that would place more controls on pawnshops and secondhand stores.

At such businesses, Bernson said, guns can be redeemed or bought without observing the 15-day waiting period required by law.

“That is a loophole in the law that needs to be protected,” he said. “Imposing a conditional use permit is not going to keep guns out of the hands of criminals.”

Councilman Marvin Braude responded that pawnshops are an inconsequential part the gun problem, but Councilwoman Rita Walters agreed with Bernson.

Pawnshops, she said, are “the primary route of sale of guns and ammunition” in her 9th District.