L.A. Moves Step Closer to Bullet Sales Rules : Violence: Council votes 9 to 2 to require identification from buyers and record-keeping by vendors. Final decision on ordinance is expected next week.

In a move advocates say will make the city a beacon for efforts to curb gun violence, the Los Angeles City Council voted 9 to 2 Tuesday to require ammunition buyers to present a driver’s license or other identification at the time of their purchase.

The measure also would require vendors to keep records about buyers to help the Los Angeles Police Department enforce a new state law that since Jan. 1 has barred the sale of ammunition to certain types of people, including convicted felons.

The Los Angeles measure is similar to an ordinance approved in Pasadena in February. Santa Monica and West Hollywood also are contemplating ammunition rules. Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams has endorsed the Los Angeles measure, saying that it will help keep the implements of violence out of the wrong hands.

LAPD Capt. Gabe Ornelas told council members Tuesday that the ordinance would act as a deterrent; ex-convicts, for example, might choose not to buy bullets in Los Angeles for fear that police would learn of their illegal purchase while randomly checking sales records.

Under the new state law, all people previously barred from buying firearms are now barred from buying ammunition as well, said LAPD Lt. Don Hartwell, who testified at Tuesday’s council meeting.

The new rules would impose misdemeanor charges on ammunition buyers who fail to provide proper identification or present false identification when making their purchases.

Tuesday’s action was not final, however. Next week, the council is scheduled to vote on the final wording of the ordinance. The measure will become law if it is passed unanimously with at least 12 members voting; if it falls short, another vote will be required.

Some members of the public complained that the new law would unfairly impose burdensome record-keeping duties on gun store dealers.

Councilwoman Rita Walters, who authored the proposal, said she did not care. “If every gun dealer moves out of the city, I say good riddance!” said Walters, who represents a South-Central Los Angeles district that has often been the site of gun violence.

But others questioned whether the measure would be effective.

Councilwoman Laura Chick said she was concerned that the measure might amount to nothing more than “feel-good” legislation. Chick, who represents the western San Fernando Valley, urged that any ammunition sales rules be good for only one year, with city officials reporting back in nine months on the measure’s effectiveness.

Councilman Rudy Svorinich criticized the measure as too limited in its effect. With only Los Angeles and a few other cities having such rules, illegal buyers could easily buy bullets elsewhere.

Svorinich, who represents the Harbor area and Watts, questioned whether it was an effective use of LAPD personnel to monitor ammunition sales. If the choice was between spending tax dollars to hire an officer to check sales receipts or patrol the streets, “the choice to me is clear,” he said.

But council members Mark Ridley-Thomas, Jackie Goldberg and Marvin Braude said the city’s action was a show of leadership that could inspire enactment of similar laws at the state or federal level.

“I’m not naive enough to believe that this will solve all our violence problems . . . but it’s an incremental step,” Goldberg said.

Councilman Richard Alarcon added that the measure will be worthwhile if it prevents even one killing. He noted that an ordinance passed several years ago to ban bullet sales seven days before July 4 and New Year’s Eve has helped to curb the gunfire that have marked these holidays in some communities.