GUN WATCH : Open Door for Murder

Should Californians be able to buy and sell a class of firearms that the federal government won’t even allow to be imported into this country? Clearly the answer is no--and an even more emphatic no if the guns in question are the so-called Saturday night specials.

Despite the Pavlovian opposition of the National Rifle Assn. to even the most sensible gun control measures, California law should not leave the door open to cheap firearms that play a disproportionate role in violent crime and make up eight of every 10 guns seized by law enforcement across the state.

Congress has failed thus far to ban domestically manufactured Saturday night specials. But five states--Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota and South Carolina--have passed such a prohibition. Certainly California could do likewise.

SB 933, authored by Richard G. Polanco (D-Los Angeles), passed the state Senate last month and is now before the Assembly Public Safety Committee. It would prohibit Saturday night specials banned under federal criteria for imported handguns. Those criteria address characteristics like barrel length, weight, materials used in frame construction, caliber and safety features.

Two Republicans are the key to an important vote today in the Assembly committee. James E. Rogan (R-Glendale) and Richard K. Rainey (R-Walnut Creek) have demonstrated pragmatism on a range of issues. At the very least they should allow this sensible bill to go to the Assembly floor. At that point the logic of the legislation should speak for itself.