Boxer Touts Bill to Ban Saturday Night Specials

Sen. Barbara Boxer reeled off a list of toys commonly found in the U.S., then held up a bright pink and orange plastic ray gun.

“All these toys have safety and quality standards,” the California Democrat told the group of Thousand Oaks and county officials gathered in the trauma treatment room of Columbia Los Robles Hospital. “There are no [government-required] safety standards for real handguns.”

Boxer was at the hospital to drum up support for her legislation that would hold U.S. gun manufacturers to the same quality and safety standards imposed on imported guns. In effect, the measure would ban cheaply made handguns, commonly known as Saturday night specials. She plans to introduce the bill in January when the 105th Congress opens.

Boxer spoke after an emotional appeal by Glenda Lee-Barnard, a Thousand Oaks activist who became involved in handgun control issues after her son, David, was paralyzed in an accidental shooting five years ago.

“My son has been in this hospital five times,” Lee-Barnard said, outlining some of the care he has received since the shooting. “The kids in the inner city don’t have that. They just die and no one gives a damn.”

Boxer said she chose Thousand Oaks to make her appeal from because it is one of the nation’s safest cities. But even so, it has been touched by gun violence. Cmdr. Kathy Kemp of the east valley Ventura County sheriff’s station said Thousand Oaks had a total of 15 drive-by shootings in 1995 and 1996.

“Where we can make a significant impact . . . is prevention,” she said.

Ron Phelps, president and chief executive officer of the hospital, said the measure could have a preventive effect. “The costs [of gun violence] are obviously enormous,” he said. “A pound of cure seems woefully inadequate to me.”

Boxer would not say specifically how she planned to answer opposition to restrictions on firearms from the National Rifle Assn. and others.

Sandi Webb, a Simi Valley city councilwoman and vocal gun advocate, said she doesn’t believe the consumer safety approach is valid.

“They love doing that,” she said when asked about the proposed bill.

She said toys have more required safety standards than handguns “probably because they need more on the toys because you give them to children.”

The same is not true of guns, she said. “We don’t let a child have the car, either. We’re safety-izing ourselves in this country. We’re wrapping ourselves in such a tight cocoon, we can’t breathe.”

But Boxer believes that emphasizing consumer safety will get a lot more support than an outright ban.

“The police chiefs believe this is the right way to go,” she said. “This is the answer right now.” But she added, “This is going to be a big, tough, long battle.”