Concealed Gun Bill Defeated

* As a strong supporter of The Times’ position on gun control, I was disappointed to read your Feb. 2 editorial bemoaning the Assembly’s defeat of the Katz bill.

As a lawyer with a total of 21 years experience as a Los Angeles County prosecutor and as a private practitioner, I can say that I have never once seen a person convicted of the mere possession of a concealed gun receive the maximum penalty. Ex-felons and those possessing firearms at schools can already be prosecuted for felonies under existing law. What sense, then, does it make to quadruple the maximum sentence for non-aggravated possession, other than to gain votes for politicians?

The vast majority of concealed gun offenders that I have seen are ordinary, middle-class citizens who possessed guns in their vehicles because they were returning from target practice or were ignorant of the law or were paranoid about their safety because they had been frightened by the rhetoric of politicians and the media. Furthermore, they had no prior criminal records. No judge in his right mind would incarcerate such persons for three years.

You are correct that our criminal laws are inconsistent. That is because they are enacted piecemeal by ambitious politicians in response to whichever way the wind of public opinion is blowing at the moment.

You are right also to have reservations about the various proposals to deal harshly with recidivists. You should recognize that the Katz bill is no more nobly inspired than the others. The way to deal with the problem is to prevent John Q. Criminal and John Q. Public from acquiring the guns in the first place.

PETER A. ALIX SR.

Chino

* Thank you for your editorial. I have been robbed twice at gunpoint--the second time was last week. I do not blame the LAPD, which is understaffed. I am involved with manufacturing pepper gas (OC) as an alternative to guns, which is now a felony in California.

As a veteran of the U.S. Marines, U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Air Force, I am very capable of using small arms. My recent decision on carrying a concealed weapon was a choice of either “Stop, hand over your weapon” (misdemeanor), or “Stop, give me your money or I’ll kill you” (death sentence). I’ve made my decision!

RICHARD HATA

Los Angeles

* It was disheartening to read that the state Legislature decided to keep it a misdemeanor to carry a concealed firearm instead of making it a more serious crime.

As always, it is quite telling that politicians are more concerned with the interests of the National Rifle Assn. than the great mass of prosecutors and other law enforcement professionals. The more the public catches on, however, the more that will change.

RONALD WEBSTER

Long Beach

* In response to “Guns May Pass Cars in Causing Death by Injury,” Jan. 28:

You could have been fair and stated that of the 38,317 gun-related deaths, 18,885 were suicides, 1,416 were accidents and 16,218 were homicides. But then that would change the impact of numbers for your anti-gun campaign. You also failed to note how many of the auto deaths were caused by drunk or other drug-impaired drivers. I have not seen any movement to ban alcohol or even impound vehicles of convicted drunk drivers.

You would better serve the public if you got off this anti-gun kick and went after the real causes of crime and the lack of punishment.

JON J. THOMAS

Huntington Beach