City Officials, Activists Urge No Repeal of Assault Gun Ban
Several members of the Los Angeles City Council and Police Chief Willie L. Williams joined forces with gun control groups and community activists Monday in urging Congress not to repeal its historic ban on assault weapons.
Citing polls showing that about 80% of Americans support the 1994 federal law, local leaders made emotional pleas.
House Republican leaders, backed by the National Rifle Assn., have moved to reconsider the ban, which had enjoyed bipartisan support in both the Senate and the House of Representatives at the time of its passage.
One of the most emotional of appeals to keep the weapons ban came from longtime Watts activist Alice Harris.
“We are losing innocent children because some companies want to make money,” she said.
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