Let’s See . . . Keys, Gum, Lipstick, Glock 9mm

Several years ago, back when a lawyer named Riordan chaired the Coliseum Commission and America’s best-known Gates was Daryl, not Bill, a few Republican big shots thought Sheriff Sherman Block would make a dandy candidate for mayor.

The sheriff, a West Hills resident, mulled it over. Later, Block told reporters he was confident he could win the mayoral election. He just didn’t want the job.

Would Mayor Block have been much different from his Republican brother Riordan? Their track records indicate that Block, at least, would not have dodged the tough issues the way Riordan won’t speak up about the proposition that would abolish affirmative action. You may recall that Riordan also wimped out on Proposition 187. Block, meanwhile, bucked the party line, calling the proposal to yank children of illegal immigrants out of school and deny medical care to them and their parents morally offensive and bad public policy.

Now Block is again speaking his mind, this time bucking the gun lobby.

*

For Block, challenging the gun lobby is nothing new. This time, he is arguing against a bill from Assemblyman William J. “Pete” Knight (R-Palmdale) that would make it much easier for most of us to get a permit to carry a concealed weapon. Under Knight’s bill, local law enforcement officials like Block would be stripped of the authority to issue permits. Only people who have a criminal record or a documented history of mental illness would be denied the privilege.

Knight’s bill is the latest volley in a broad campaign by gun groups, including the National Rifle Assn., and the firearms industry. Perhaps you’ve seen the billboards that suggest we’d all be safer if the criminals didn’t know who was packing heat.

“Just the opposite could be true,” Block argues. “The level of violence can go up considerably. . . . In the last several robberies of armored car guards, the people just walked up and killed them in cold blood. [Criminals] may think, ‘I don’t know if this guy’s got a gun or not. I better neutralize him.’ ”

The gun advocates respond: But what about Florida? Liberalized concealed-weapons permits, they say, have not created problems.

Block isn’t so sure about that. What’s certainly clear, he says, is that Florida’s law hasn’t been a solution. Miami, Gainesville and Tampa remain among the nation’s most dangerous metropolitan areas. “They cannot make a showing that the ability to carry firearms has enhanced public safety.”

Conjecture dominates the debate from both sides. A man writes a letter to the editor, describing how he and his wife were robbed at gunpoint: If I had a gun, I could have defended myself and my wife. Or if you had a gun, Block muses, you and your wife might be dead.

The sheriff suggests that we think about the number of law enforcement officers across the country who are killed each year, despite their extensive training. Often they are shot with their own weapons. Do you think you’d be better prepared than they were?

Think about the tension of city life, of how often a traffic dispute or a racial incident could escalate into violence.

Think of how guns could become a fashion statement. “I think a lot of people would carry guns because, hey, it’s the in thing to do,” Block says. He laughs, imagining a conversation: “I’ve got a Gucci holster for mine. What about you?”

Think about the message this would deliver to young people, who already have greater reason to fear gunfire than their elders.

And Block suggests people think about another thing--a question that, he says, always stops people in their polemical tracks.

“I ask them if they know anyone--a relative, a friend, a business associate--who does not have a criminal record, who has never been certified as mentally ill and whom they would hate to see carrying a firearm.”

Everybody, Block says, knows at least a few people like that. And all those people, under Knight’s bill, could start packing.

*

Block, now in his fourth term, has few friends in the gun lobby. The funny thing is, Block doesn’t consider himself anti-gun. “I vigorously support the right of an individual to own and possess firearms, but I believe government has the right to say what kind of firearms people can own and under what conditions they can possess or carry them. . . .

“I don’t understand how this has become a partisan issue. I really don’t. This is a public-safety issue. I don’t know how it’s become Republicans on one side, Democrats on the other.”

In Los Angeles County, Block’s offices have issued more than 400 permits to carry concealed weapons. The policy, which requires that a person establish a specific need to carry a weapon, was recently upheld in federal court.

The sheriff said he’s not aware of a single county permit holder who has ever had to use a firearm in self-defense. And only one permit holder, he says, abused the privilege.

He brandished his gun in a business meeting, Block recalls, just to gain a little leverage.

Scott Harris’ column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Readers may write to Harris at the Times Valley Edition, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth 91311. Please include a phone number.