Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Gun Lovers Gather to Cheer as Crime Bill Falters : Activism: Anti-firearms efforts are compared to communism as 500 cram Palmdale Cultural Center.

The heat was stifling, but this crowd was not about to be silenced by such a trivial matter: They came to proclaim their love of guns and did so loudly.

More than 500 people crammed into the Palmdale Cultural Center on Thursday night for a town hall meeting in which President Clinton was referred to as “Bubba” and anti-gun legislation was compared to communism.

Audience members called for registered voters to be allowed to carry concealed weapons and reinstating the Code of the West by putting the sheriff in charge of Los Angeles County.

Lyle Weiss, 32, a Palmdale resident and member of the National Rifle Assn., said it’s time for gun supporters to stop calling themselves “pro-gun” and start referring to themselves as “pro-constitutional patriots.”

“I’m not Satan,” he told the cheering crowd. “I’m tired of hearing it.”

A celebratory mood dominated the meeting--Congress had blocked a crime bill earlier in the day that would have banned numerous types of assault weapons. Assemblyman William (Pete) Knight (R-Palmdale), who organized the meeting, told the crowd that the bill’s defeat is a sign the tide is turning in their favor.

“We have been on the defensive of gun-control legislation for a long time,” he said. “I think it’s time we got on the offensive.”

The meeting was more political rally than town hall meeting, its advertised purpose. Speakers urged the crowd to support conservative candidates in the November elections and gave out literature denouncing illegal immigrants as well as offering souvenirs for sale, including key chains with miniature police batons.

“If you’re a registered voter and you don’t vote, you might as well turn your gun in,” said Ed Worley, California grass-roots coordinator for the NRA.

Brian Peterson, 28, of Palmdale suggested that audience members get on mailing lists of gun-control organizations, then call their toll-free numbers because it would cost the groups money.

Keynote speaker Paxton Quigley appealed for more women to own guns. The Beverly Hills activist told the mostly male crowd that she has taught more than 4,000 women to shoot. She said she was “anti-gun” until an unarmed friend was raped in 1986.

“Literally, out of a clear blue sky I asked her, ‘If you had a handgun, could you have prevented that attack?’ ” Quigley said. “She thought a moment and said, ‘Yes.’ ”

Knight criticized gun-control statistics indicating that family members and friends are the most common target of handguns in the home.

“A ‘friend’ can be the corner drug dealer, so those statistics are not necessarily correct,” he said.

After the meeting, a sheriff’s deputy grumbled about Knight’s involvement in the issue. He said he had heard that the assemblyman is not even an NRA member.