GUN WATCH : Target Practice?

As if mounting an expensive, taxpayer-financed election to recall Sen. David A. Roberti (D-Van Nuys) less than 10 months before his term ends--in large part because of his support for tighter gun laws--wasn’t appalling enough, the suggestion that this effort should extend to state judges is positively chilling. Yet that is precisely what may be on the table.

A confidential document dated Feb. 5, outlining strategy for the Roberti recall campaign, also suggests that the campaign itself is an effort to “prove the viability of a technique that can be used to cut the Gordian knot of the Supreme Court” around the Second Amendment. While federal judges, including those on the U.S. Supreme Court, have lifetime tenure, state judges stand for reelection. And since, as the document explains, some state judges do land on the federal bench, “. . . we can certainly put the fear of God” in them before they become immune to recall.

The Los Angeles Daily Journal reported last week that one of the leaders of the recall campaign admitted that his group, Californians Against Corruption, has discussed the issue. “Something we have talked about recently is the potential for recalling a (particular) judge.” The campaign memo goes further: “We are already investigating a potential judicial target.”

A recall election is meant to remove officials who violate the law, abuse the public trust or cannot carry out their duties. State judges who uphold California’s minimal gun-control laws in the face of such threatened harassment deserve a medal--and reelection, not recall.