Gun Bill Dies, but Webb Promises It Will Return : Legislation: Assembly panel fails to support proposal to allow more people to carry concealed weapons.

A bill aimed at allowing more Californians to carry concealed weapons has died in committee, but gun-toting Simi Valley City Councilwoman Sandi Webb and other supporters vowed Wednesday to revive the legislation next year.

“This is Round 1. We’re not done yet,” said Webb, who traveled to Sacramento to testify on the bill Tuesday.

Assemblyman William J. (Pete) Knight (R-Palmdale) said he would bring the bill up for another vote in January, when many GOP stalwarts believe the Assembly will be dominated by Republicans, who traditionally favor loosening controls on firearms.

Tuesday night’s vote to defeat the bill in the Assembly Public Safety Committee at least temporarily halted a movement that has gained momentum nationwide since Florida passed a similar law in 1987.

But supporters of the bill were undaunted.

“I really didn’t expect it to get through the first time around,” Webb said. “But at least this helps to get the issue aired and get the debate going. I’m sure we’ll do better next time.”

Webb, who attended the hearing with her 14-year-old daughter, Aubri, caused a local sensation when she admitted that she illegally carried a loaded pistol in her purse on trips to Los Angeles.

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Across the nation, the National Rifle Assn. and gun owners’ groups have persuaded 20 state legislatures to adopt the laws by casting such measures as anti-crime rather than pro-gun. In California, the state Rifle and Pistol Assn. has unveiled a new information campaign with billboards that say: “Society is safer when criminals don’t know who’s armed.”

Knight’s bill, modeled after the Florida law, would have required county sheriffs and police chiefs to grant permits to carry a concealed weapon to anyone who met qualifications spelled out by the legislation.

To qualify, applicants would have to show they had never been convicted of a felony, were mentally sound, at least 21 years old and had completed firearms safety training.

Currently, the issuance of permits is left entirely up to the top law-enforcement authority’s discretion. Consequently, few permits are issued.

In Ventura County, 245 residents have received permission to carry loaded guns, law-enforcement records show.

In the city of Los Angeles, for example, five permits have been granted, even after a lawsuit challenged the system and tried to force the issuance of more permits. Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block kept permits under 400, officials said.

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In the state Senate, a companion bill carried by Sen. Dick Monteith (R-Modesto) has also been shelved with plans to resurrect it in January, Monteith’s staff said. Chances are better that the Senate, too, will have more Republican members then. Special elections in months ahead could change the composition of both houses.

In trying to get the bill passed by the Assembly committee Tuesday night, Knight’s staff said they had sought backing from a key Democrat, freshman Assemblyman Kevin Murray (D-Los Angeles), to break a partisan stalemate. The committee’s four Democrats opposed the bill and all four Republicans voted for it. All but one of the Democrats left before casting votes, leaving the bill without the majority needed for approval.

But Murray said Wednesday that although Knight had personally asked him for his support, he never gave the conservative Republican reason for false hope.

“I was not going to be the swing vote,” Murray said. “I never told anybody that I had even considered it.”

Like some other Democrats, Murray said he favors changing the law to make the issuance of permits less arbitrary, with more uniform standards. But he said he opposes legislation to increase the number of guns on the street.

Times correspondent Scott Hadly in Simi Valley contributed to this report.