GLENDALE : Activists Blast Rogan for Vote on Gun Ban

Gun control activists on Friday assailed Assemblyman James Rogan’s recent vote against a bill banning cheap handguns or “Saturday night specials”--a vote that pitted him against Glendale’s police chief.

“There is no legitimate use for these guns. They can’t be used for sporting; they are no good for self-defense,” said Kellie Odou, a Glendale resident and member of the Pasadena-based Coalition for a Nonviolent City. “These guns are used for the commission of crime and violence.”

Senate Bill 933, which would outlaw the manufacture and sale of the inexpensive guns, has already passed the Senate, but stalled in the Assembly Public Safety Committee this week on a 4-4 tie vote. The roughly 20 activists who protested at his office said Rogan (R-Glendale) should have broken ranks with his Republican colleagues on the committee and listened to Glendale Police Chief James Anthony, who had lobbied him to support the bill.

“He had the deciding vote on the ban, but he decided to support the status quo,” said Gisselle Franco, executive director of the coalition. “He doesn’t understand that these guns are small, and they can be easily disposed of after a crime. And because they’re sold for about $25, they’re accessible to children.”

Rogan’s staff members said the assemblyman was in the Glendale area Friday, but he did not meet with the protesters and did not return phone calls seeking comment.

But Natalie Blanning, Rogan’s district director, said the assemblyman has said the bill is flawed and could prevent law-abiding citizens who cannot afford more expensive guns from buying weapons for protection.

“From his background as a [Municipal Court] judge and prosecutor, this is an issue he knows extremely well,” Blanning said. “He looks at it from the perspective of whether it will prevent criminals from having guns and whether it will stop crime. He thinks it will not.”

But Anthony, who supports the bill on behalf of the California Police Chiefs Assn., believes outlawing the guns would help stem the tide of such small-time violence as holdups and drug-related shootings.

“These guns are not used by people to protect themselves. They are cheap guns that invariably end up in the hands of criminals who cannot afford better guns,” police spokesman Chahe Keuroghelian said on the chief’s behalf.

Keuroghelian said “Saturday night specials” also often misfire, making them a danger to those who use them.

Staff members at Rogan’s district office said the assemblyman plans to release a written statement next week to clarify his stance on the issue.