Panel OKs Rapid-Fire Gun Ban : Crime: In surprise, Republican Henry Hyde endorses bill, which is sent to full House. But backers of measure still need 15 votes to pass it.

The House Judiciary Committee approved an assault weapons ban Thursday with the unexpected help of an influential Republican who said he was persuaded to support it by crime statistics from his hometown.

The ban, which outlaws the future possession, sale or manufacture of 19 specific assault weapons, now goes before the full House. Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) has tentatively scheduled a vote as early as next week.

The outcome will amount to a referendum on whether the House wants the assault weapons provision included in the final version of the omnibus crime bill when it reaches a Senate-House conference. The measure already has been included in the Senate’s crime bill.

Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.), chairman of the House GOP Policy Committee and a hard-liner on crime, broke with fellow Republicans and sided with Democrats on the 20-15 vote.

Although his change of heart from an opponent to a supporter may help sway other Republicans who oppose the ban, its backers acknowledged that they are still about 15 votes short of the number needed for House passage, despite vigorous support from President Clinton and Cabinet members.

“The trend is moving in our direction but we would like more time to work,” said Rep. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), sponsor of the bill in the House. He is pressing for a postponement of the vote until mid-May.

Nonetheless, Hyde’s surprising switch was a tonic for sponsors of the legislation as they scrambled to put together a House majority with White House help.

Hyde credited a chief advocate of the ban, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), for his conversion.

He said that Feinstein provided him with information on the number of crimes involving rapid-fire guns that were committed near his Chicago district.

“I was persuaded by that,” Hyde said. “I don’t want people to be able to buy hand grenades. What’s the difference between a hand grenade and an AK-47 that can spray a crowd and kill people?”

But Hyde said he expects a backlash from voters, adding: “I will catch unshirted hell for this.”

A spokesman for Feinstein said that the senator, in an unusual lobbying effort, has called about a dozen undecided House members to try to persuade them to support the measure. She also has prepared thick notebooks documenting crimes involving use of such weapons to bolster her case, the spokesman said.

Outside the Judiciary Committee, the ban won another convert Thursday. Rep. Susan Molinari (R-N.Y.) reversed her stance and declared her support, saying that she had done so at the request of New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and police officers.

“We must give the police the help they need to secure our streets,” she said in a statement.

Opposition to the legislation has been spearheaded by the politically powerful National Rifle Assn., which argues that Congress should focus on locking up criminals who use the guns rather than preventing citizens from buying them for self-defense.

“This (bill) is not going to solve anything except to satisfy some people . . . politically,” argued Rep. Bill McCollum (R-Fla.), chief spokesman for Republicans on crime issues.

All of the GOP members of the Judiciary Committee--except for Hyde--voted against the proposed ban.

All the Democrats--except Chairman Jack Brooks (D-Tex.) and Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.)--voted for it.

Brooks, who has consistently fought against gun control legislation, argued that the legislation is unneeded. He said that federal laws already bar possession of assault weapons by ex-convicts and the mentally disturbed.

But advocates of the ban said it was long overdue.

“This bill is the first modest step toward reducing the arms race inside the United States,” said Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.). “This is the best chance we have to send the message that lethal, destructive assault weapons that are used to kill or maim people will not be tolerated in our society.”