Pasadena City Council Backs Gun Control Measures

The Pasadena City Council voted 4-3 to support stronger gun control measures Tuesday night during a meeting marked by emotional speeches from groups supporting and opposing the regulation of firearms.

The council decided to ask the state attorney general’s office whether cities may legally ban the sale of ammunition, to inform congressional representatives that the city supports a ban on the production and sale of assault weapons, and to petition state and federal legislatures to enact more stringent gun-control laws.

Those three issues were originally part of a five-point resolution drafted by the Coalition for a Non-Violent City, which formed after the slayings of three Pasadena youths on Halloween night.

Coalition members, including Florence Crawford, mother of one of the slain teen-agers, presented the council with a red banner depicting a dark fallen figure and the words “Save Our Children.” The banner will hang in council chambers until the boys’ killers are apprehended.

Gun-control opponents, including National Rifle Assn. member Elodie McKie of Burbank, a victim of violent crime, asked the council not to lobby for any restrictions on the use of firearms. “I hate to think if another earthquake, Watts riot or King riot happened that we’d have to face it unarmed,” McKie said.