Making the Criminal Life a Little More Difficult

The Los Angeles City Council has taken an important step in its continuing effort to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. Its ban on the manufacture and sale of “Saturday night specials” should make the small, cheap handguns more difficult to obtain, especially if the prohibition inspires similar action by other municipalities and similar measures by the state and federal governments.

The council’s earlier ban on the sale of assault rifles gave momentum to the movement that led to passage of a federal ban on most of the weapons in 1994.

The L.A. ordinance, passed Wednesday on a 13-0 vote, will take effect next month if the new law withstands a legal challenge from the National Rifle Assn. An NRA lawsuit, arguing that only the state can regulate firearms, has prevented the city of West Hollywood from enforcing its prohibition on the sale of Saturday night specials. Why does the NRA contest this ban? Hunters don’t use these vicious little weapons. The “special” is small, easily concealed and deadly at close range. And since it costs as little as $25, a shooter has no compunction against simply tossing it away.

The West Hollywood ban is largely symbolic because only one gun dealer still operates within that city’s limits. The Los Angeles ban, which was introduced by City Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg, has far greater impact because hundreds of gun dealers sell “specials” within the city limits.

Law enforcement officials welcome the ban. The Los Angeles Police Department confiscated 1,437 “specials” last year, all made in Southern California. According to the LAPD, 64 were found at homicide scenes and 56 at robbery sites and 109 were confiscated after assaults. The Saturday night special accounted for 13% of all weapons confiscated by the LAPD in 1995, and its easy availability explains the danger.

Emergency room physicians who treat gun wounds also support the local ordinance. Their testimony from the front lines of the L.A. criminal scene should help persuade more localities to adopt bans. Compton has already banned sales of the guns, and 14 similar ordinances are pending, primarily in Northern California.

No law can keep guns from determined criminals. But the Los Angeles ban, and others, will at least make it harder for them to find a key tool of their ugly trade.