Gun Policy Proposal Draws Crowd of Opponents

Gun advocates packed the City Council chambers here Monday to protest the strict new policy Police Chief Randy Adams has proposed for issuing concealed-handgun permits--and to show support for one of their own: Councilwoman Sandi Webb.

The crowd swelled to more than 200, overflowing into an adjoining room as residents alternately attacked the police chief’s new rules and stood up for Webb. The councilwoman last week apologized to U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) for throwing her a middle-fingered salute in a disagreement in Washington over the assault weapons ban.

As a handful of residents at the public hearing lambasted Webb on Monday for acting unprofessionally, a raucous crowd drowned them out several times with boos, jeers and noisy fits of throat clearing.

Resident Larry Fried counted himself “appalled at Sandi Webb’s obscene gesture.

“Your quick temper and level of civil restraint hurt our city’s image,” he told Webb.

Fred Harrison, another critic, demanded that Webb resign, a suggestion that was drowned out by a booming chorus of boos.

Webb replied: “As far as I was concerned, the matter is closed. I apologized. . . . I was not going to apologize. But on reflection and thinking about it--and not because I got so many calls telling me I should, because 90% of the callers supported me--but I looked at it and said, you know what? I was wrong.”

Webb added, “I’m sorry some people can’t accept my apology,” at which the room burst into applause and half the audience jumped to its feet.

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But the bulk of the hours-long meeting was taken up with discussion of Adams’ new rules on obtaining permits to carry concealed weapons.

Local NRA chapter President Mike Mason protested that Adams’ policy treats the right to bear arms as a special privilege.

“Our NRA Members Council feels that this is a constitutional right, not a privilege,” Mason said. “The California Constitution clearly provides for self-protection at home. However, 88% of all violent crime occurs outside the home. Why are my family and I being denied the rights to defend ourselves?”

Gene Wunderlich rolled to the podium in an electric wheelchair and pleaded for the right of the physically disabled and the frail to carry concealed weapons.

“There are others here tonight who are just as incapable of flight as I am, and it comes to fight or flight I don’t have a choice,” he said.

Though Adams said his proposed rules would definitely result in more permits being issued, Wunderlich and many other residents complained that some of the requirements--including $1 million in liability insurance and intensive psychological screening--would make it difficult and expensive to obtain a concealed-weapons permit.

“This whole thing sounds like a poll tax to us, where you have to pay to gain access to your rights,” resident Ed Thiele said. “We’re not looking for an excuse to shoot anybody, we just want to defend ourselves.”

Although debate ranged from the legal to the absurd--such as one man who referred to privatizing nuclear weapons--most speakers’ pleas came straight from the heart and a desire for the legal power to protect themselves and their loved ones with guns.

One man spoke of “three jewels at home . . . my mother, my wife and my daughter.”

Several residents railed against what they describe as liberal policymakers trying to take away their constitutional rights. Krista Mellinger likened liberal rhetoric, such as President Clinton’s call for gun control, to the actions of Hitler.

“If only the Jewish people had had guns to defend themselves against a people bent on destroying them, the history books would have been written differently about what we call the Holocaust,” she said.

Lawyer Steven Paine said he is one of the 21 Simi Valley residents licensed to carry a concealed handgun. The estimated $300 cost of a mental exam and further expense of liability insurance “will only serve to keep [handgun] permits accessible to a relative few,” he said.

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What’s more, he added, “We can do very little to force criminals to ask Chief Adams for permission to carry guns.”

Resident Debbie Sandland said she supports Adams’ rules because “I feel the guidelines are reasonable, responsible and I think they’re very fair.”

The new policy--aimed at clarifying California gun laws--empowers Adams to issue permits to law-abiding Simi Valley residents who:

* Have good moral character, as required under current state law.

* Can show good cause for needing to carry a loaded gun, also required by law. Adams’ policy adds, “This may include personal protection to mitigate a perceived threat.”

* Pass a firearms safety course.

* Carry pepper spray as a nonlethal alternative to gunfire.

* Obtain $1 million in personal liability insurance.

* Submit to finger printing and a thorough background check.

* Pass a battery of psychological tests to prove they are mentally stable.

* And pay a $76 application fee.

The Simi Valley Police Department has said it cannot predict how many handgun permits will be issued under Adams’ new plan.