Fewer Guns, Not More

By now, lawmakers here and across the nation should be well aware of the public’s growing weariness with statements and policies that countenance gun use rather than discourage it. Though some still don’t get it, many do--and that’s good news for a crime-besieged America.

In Los Angeles on Tuesday the City Council’s public safety committee approved an ordinance to tighten local requirements for buyers and sellers of ammunition. And in Sacramento on Wednesday members of the Assembly Public Safety Committee courageously turned back misguided and dangerous legislation by William J. (Pete) Knight (R-Palmdale) that would have allowed more Californians to carry concealed weapons by loosening regulations for gun permits. A bill like that is not what this state needs.

The victory in the Legislature for advocates of gun control is an appropriate one, especially given the strong reluctance of localities to liberalize their concealed weapons laws. Within the last year alone, Stockton, Fresno and Redondo Beach all rejected aggressive attempts to turn each into another Dodge City.

The Los Angeles ammunition measure, which is similar to one approved earlier this year in Pasadena, requires record-keeping at the point of sale on the brand, type and amount of bullets. The new regulations must still clear the full council. Given the gun violence that plagues this city, it would be awfully hard to justify anything but approval.

Predictably, the bullet ordinance has become a target for angry critics who call it nothing more than “feel-good” legislation. It’s true that new laws won’t end gun violence. We also need aggressive enforcement and appropriate punishment in the justice system, especially when it comes to urban gangs that think nothing of slaughtering innocent bystanders.

No law is a cure-all. But without real effort there’s no hope. More and more Americans are starting to make that effort.