Council Panel Calls for City Gun-Control Laws

Only days after bank robbers armed with automatic weapons engaged in a bloody battle with police in North Hollywood, a Los Angeles City Council panel backed legislation Tuesday allowing the city to impose gun-control laws that exceed state restrictions.

The council’s Intergovernmental Relations Committee unanimously supported the motion of Councilman Mike Feuer to support or sponsor such a bill in Sacramento.

But such legislation has failed in the past, encountering opposition from the National Rifle Assn. and other gun-owner groups that contend such a law would illegally usurp the state’s power to regulate firearms sales.

Feuer, a strong gun-control advocate, expressed hope that the law would succeed this time. “It’s a new day,” he said.

Feuer made the motion a month ago, but Friday’s terrifying gun battle--in which 11 officers and six civilians were injured and the two gunmen killed--gave the measure greater urgency.

“Given that gun violence is constantly on the rise, it is important for the city to enact laws that [allow] the City Council to keep guns off the street and out of the hands of criminals,” Feuer’s motion states.

In interviews, several council members said they would back tougher gun-control laws for the city, including imposing a longer waiting period to buy handguns and stiffer penalties for illegally possessing guns.

“You begin to wonder if things are getting out of hand with this shooting in North Hollywood,” said Council President John Ferraro.

During that shooting, two bank robbers, wrapped in bulletproof armor and armed with illegal assault rifles, fired at police and bystanders with hundreds of rounds of armor-piercing bullets.

The council’s strongest advocate of gun control appears to be Feuer, who said he would support an all-out ban on the sale of guns within city limits.

But he acknowledged that bringing about such a ban would be difficult.

“The sale of weapons is completely out of control,” he said. “We should be taking aggressive steps to take guns off of the streets.”

Others said it would take “a miracle” for the state Legislature to adopt a law giving the city power to adopt its own gun-control laws.

Councilwoman Laura Chick, who heads the council’s Public Safety Committee, said she would simply advocate putting more resources into ensuring that current gun-control laws are enforced, such as the law aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of felons.

“Those military weapons are already illegal, but they are out there,” she said. “How do we get rid of them?”

The two gunmen killed in the botched robbery were stopped in 1993 with an arsenal of weapons and military gear in their car. Glendale police arrested the pair on suspicion of conspiracy to commit robbery, but prosecutors said there was not enough evidence to convict them of that charge and settled for convictions on less severe weapons violations. The each served less than four months in jail.

After their convictions, the two men received court approval to recover nearly all of their gear.

Several City Council members, including Joel Wachs, said they would support legislation imposing longer jail time for people convicted of possessing illegal weapons.

“Declaring something illegal is not enough,” he said.

Councilman Nate Holden suggested extending the waiting period for purchasing a handgun from 20 days to 30 days.

The city has already attempted to adopt its own gun-control laws by approving a ban last year on cheap pistols known as Saturday-night specials--a ban that has been challenged in court by the NRA.

Steve Helsley, an NRA representative, said his group strongly opposes legislation that nullifies the state’s preemptive power to control gun sales because it would lead to a patchwork of gun laws throughout the state.

“Instead of having one gun-control law in the state, you would have 500,” he said. “That would have no bearing on the criminals who are using the guns. It would only impact the law-abiding gun owner.”

But a spokesman for Gun Control Inc., the largest nonprofit gun-control advocacy group, said it makes sense to have different gun laws in different parts of the state.

“What is appropriate in a small, rural town may not make sense in a populated urban center like Los Angeles,” said Luis Tolley, western director for the group.

He added that cities can prove to be good testing grounds for new gun-control laws that can be expanded statewide if they are successful.

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