Gun Bill Approval Enrages Many Valley Firearms Enthusiasts

San Fernando Valley gun enthusiasts said they were shocked, scared for their safety and disappointed by the House of Representatives passage of a bill banning assault weapons Thursday.

But Shane Wehunt, 28, of Lancaster, did not just talk about his outrage, he took action. Even though he was on crutches--the result of a recent sports accident--he drove to North Hollywood to pay a visit to one of the most prominent gun shops in the area, B & B Sales.

He ordered an Auto Ordnance brand .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol, among those that would be banned if the bill becomes law, as expected.

“It is something that I want to be able to give to my children,” said Wehunt, who already owns four rifles, which he said he collects for target shooting.

“They are just taking our rights away,” he said. “First, it was the seat belt law, and then it was the helmet law and now this.”

One of the gun lobby’s nemeses--state Sen. David A. Roberti--took action too. He called a news conference.

Flanked by signs reading, “Roberti: The Man Who Banned Assault Weapons,” Roberti (D-Van Nuys) commended the House for “standing up to the gun lobby.”

“This recent attempt to block a ban on assault weapons failed miserably because the state and the nation are tired of seeing kids and cops mowed down,” Roberti said at the news conference at Burbank Airport shortly after he arrived on a flight from San Francisco.

Roberti, author of the state’s controversial 1989 ban on assault weapons, easily fought off a recall campaign last month that had been funded largely by gun lobbyists.

“When some nut gets a hold of one of these guns . . . the potency of these weapons is so enormous that when someone uses one, the tragedy is enormous,” Roberti said.

Barry Kahn, owner of the B & B Sales gun shop in North Hollywood, disagreed. The ban, he said, simply disarms the law-abiding public and does nothing to prevent criminals from acquiring more powerful weapons.

Holding and aiming a Benelli semiautomatic rifle--also targeted by the ban--Kahn said he resents that the gun is grouped with assault weapons.

“An assault weapon is a machine gun that is fully automatic,” he said. “To shoot these guns you have to pull the trigger for each round. That is not an assault rifle. It’s just a bunch of B.S.”

He said the ban would prohibit more than 200 different makes and models of guns now on the market.

“It will hurt business in the long run,” said Kahn, who has been in the gun business for 25 years. “It will increase the value of the product in stock, but I will end up with fewer employees.”

Kahn said most of his customers are upset about the ban, which is virtually assured of becoming law as part of broader crime legislation.

“They think they are being sold out and a lot of guys aren’t going to give up their firearms,” he said. “There is going to be a whole new brand of outlaws by this legislation.”

Ferdinand Aguinaldo, 29, of Glendale came into the shop. He said that after he had been assaulted and robbed of his cellular phone in West Los Angeles two months ago, he bought a Beretta pistol for protection.

He came to B & B Thursday to purchase a type of high-capacity magazine for the gun that would be banned.

“(The ban) worries me because it will be hard to defend myself against people who have higher-powered weapons,” Aguinaldo said, looking at a 15-round magazine. “There is no guarantee that they won’t have more bullets than I do.”

But not all customers at B & B believed they needed an assault rifle to defend themselves.

“I am not really interested in those types of guns,” said first-time gun buyer Jaime Moran, 36, of San Fernando, who was shopping for a revolver with his 10-year-old son, Jimmy. “I want to get a gun for my wife for protection.”

When asked if the new ban would stop the public from using the outlawed guns, Kahn replied: “A man just came in and bought 150 30-round magazines. What does that tell you?”