Assembly Passes Ban on Assault Weapons

SACRAMENTO — The Assembly on Friday approved a generic assault weapon ban that goes further than both federal restrictions and the state’s landmark 1989 law that sought to prohibit such semi-automatic weapons.

The bill by Assemblyman Don Perata (D-Alameda) won with a bare minimum 41 votes in the 80-seat house, with only one Republican from Northern California voting for it. The vote came moments before the Assembly concluded a marathon session at 2:30 in the morning.

“By not having an effective assault weapons ban on the books,” Perata said, “we by our negligence arm the gangsters and the hoodlums who terrorize our neighborhoods, our streets, our schools and turn entire cities into armed combat zones and shooting galleries.”

Perata’s bill is sure to face a major lobbying effort by pro-gun groups in the state Senate. Significantly, Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren opposes it. But key senators said Friday the measure in some form stands a good chance of winning approval in the upper house this summer.

Gov. Pete Wilson, who supported an assault weapons ban when he was in the U.S. Senate, continues to support such a ban, said his spokesman, Sean Walsh. But whether he would sign the bill remains to be seen.

“The governor has not examined the bill and so we’re unable to comment,” Walsh said.

At least a dozen common assault weapons now on the market, including six made by Colt Manufacturing, would be banned under the bill, and others could fall under its definition, depending on their characteristics, Perata says.

State law bans 58 types of assault weapons. But in several instances, manufacturers modified their pre-1989 models and continue to sell the weapons under slightly different names. Perata’s bill seeks to curb such copycats by using a generic assault weapon description.

Congress approved a generic assault weapons ban in 1994. But at least some guns permitted under federal law would be banned under Perata’s broader definition. Perata’s bill also would give local prosecutors authority to charge weapons law violators under state law.

Friday’s action followed votes in the Assembly and Senate earlier in the week to approve legislation to ban the sale and manufacture of cheap handguns, most of which are made in California and used in most gun-related crimes.

In an interview Friday, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said the votes could add momentum to efforts in Congress to impose national restrictions on the cheap handguns known as Saturday night specials.

“If you put this on top of the junk gun ban, California is breaking important new ground. I’m just thrilled,” Boxer said.

The bill would ban the sale, manufacture and possession of assault weapons that fall under a definition based on characteristics such as the capacity to fire large numbers of rounds in a short period of time, the ease with which the weapons can be concealed and their maneuverability.

Among other defining features, Perata’s bill would prohibit semiautomatic rifles that have a barrel of less than 18 1/2 inches, or an overall length of 30 inches. The weapons could not accept detachable magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. Semiautomatic shotguns could not hold more than five rounds.

Other defining characteristics include a folding or telescoping stock, a pistol grip, a bayonet mount, and a design that suppresses the flash when it goes off, or an insulating shroud around the barrel that can be held while spraying bullets.

Current owners of guns that fit the definition would have three months to register them with the state Justice Department.

If the bill is signed into law, people who fail to register their assault weapons and are caught in possession of them would face a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on circumstances.

The legislation (AB 23) provides a possible life sentence for criminals who use such a gun in an assault. Mere possession of such a gun during a crime could result in 10 years being added to a prison term.

Perata and other supporters of the bill cited massacres and mass shootings, ranging from the shootout earlier this year in North Hollywood to the murder of eight people at 101 California St. in San Francisco in 1993.

“If we pass this, I don’t think we’ll end assault weapons,” Perata said. “There is too much addiction to this kind of firepower. But we’ll slow it down.”

Anti-gun groups hailed the measure’s passage, while gun owners and manufacturers vowed a major lobbying effort in the Senate.

“Why not get rid of sports cars?” said Gerald Upholt, lobbyist for the California Rifle and Pistol Assn. “They’re a style of gun that a lot of people like having.”

Upholt said the guns of choice in crimes are not semi-automatic, but rather handguns or sawed-off shotguns.

Opponents led by Assemblyman Rico Oller (R-Calaveras) said the bill could lead to banning of many guns used legally.

“You’re taking way someone’s freedom whose intentions are honorable and good,” Oller said.

Sen. Richard Mountjoy (R-Arcadia), long one of the most pro-gun lawmakers, said the bill is merely symbolic, and won’t keep the guns from criminals. But he also predicted the bill will win Senate approval.

Although a lengthy list of law enforcement groups endorse Perata’s approach, Atty. Gen. Lungren and his aides, noting that California already has a law that seeks to limit assault weapons, say Perata’s bill could increase litigation, and would cost $830,000 a year to enforce.

“Basically, we’re concerned that this will slow down issues regarding banning assault weapons that currently are being litigated,” said Lungren spokesman Rob Stutzman. “We would prefer that we wait until the courts issue their ruling. . . . We’re still waiting to see if the original law works.”

California first tried to ban assault weapons after Patrick Purdy opened fire at Cleveland Elementary School in Stockton in 1989, killing five children.

The bill by then-Senate President Pro Tem David Roberti and former Assemblyman Mike Roos initially offered a generic description. But as it wound its way through the Legislature, the definition was dropped. Instead, the bill outlawed 58 specific guns deemed to be assault weapons.

Lungren tried in 1991 to add a Colt-made weapon to the list of banned guns. That prompted a lawsuit by Colt.

Although Lungren won in a Sacramento County Superior Court decision in 1993, Colt appealed to the state District Court of Appeal in Sacramento. In March 1994, the appellate court blocked Lungren from expanding the ban to other weapons while it continues to this day to review the case.

“We don’t know why” the case has been delayed, Stutzman said. “We’re anxious for the court to proceed.”

In a letter last week, Lungren, who expects to run for governor next year, told Perata that the assemblyman’s attempt to ban assault weapons based on generic definitions “presents its own difficulties.”

Lungren pointed out that the federal effort to ban such weapons based by definition has prompted gun makers to circumvent it “through minor modifications.”

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Decisions by the Legislature

Some of the major bills approved by the Assembly and Senate in recent days leading up to a legislative deadline Friday:

Assembly Bills Sent to the Senate:

* AB 488, by Assemblyman Louis Caldera (D-Los Angeles): Would ban manufacture and sale of Saturday night specials and other so-called junk guns.

* AB 23, by Assemblyman Don Perata (D-Alameda): Would greatly expand ban on military-style assault weapons by using general characteristics to describe them rather than listing by make and model.

* AB 794, by Assemblywoman Liz Figueroa (D-Fremont): In cases in which an HMO refuses to pay for prescribed health treatment, it would require that a second doctor examine the patient and determine if the treatment is necessary.

* AB 38, by Figueroa: Would guarantee paid coverage for a minimum two-day hospital stay for mothers and newborns.

* AB 7, by Assemblywoman Valerie Brown (D-Kenwood): Would specify a post-mastectomy hospital stay of up to two days.

* AB 1059, by Assemblywoman Carole Migden (D-San Francisco): Would require insurers to give employers the option of health coverage for employees’ domestic partners, including same-sex partners.

* AB 1603, by Assembly Speaker Cruz Bustamante (D-Fresno): Would clear the way to join other states in suing tobacco companies for state costs in treating tobacco-caused illnesses. The bill was sent to the governor.

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Senate Bills Sent to the Assembly

* SB 1329, by Sen. Tim Leslie (R-Carnelian Bay): Would prohibit new 16- and 17-year-old drivers from transporting other teenagers during the first six months of their license without supervision by a licensed adult. Would make it illegal for these motorists to drive from midnight to 5 a.m. for the first year, unless accompanied by an adult.

* SB 535, by Sen. John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara): Would finance a $500,000 research study into prostate cancer, a leading killer of men.

* SB 567, by Sen. Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles): Would overhaul the governing board of L.A.’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, shrinking the number of members from 13 to 11. Supporters say the change would shift the alignment of political power from the county Board of Supervisors to the City Council.

* SB 500, by Polanco: Would outlaw the manufacture and sale of handguns known as Saturday night specials.

* SB 885, by Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles): Would authorize Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Jose to establish experimental programs in which drug users would trade their used needles for clean ones in an effort to curb spread of AIDS.

* SB 49, by Sen. Betty Karnette (D-Long Beach): Would create a system for Internet access to campaign finance reports of candidates and committees.

* SB 1095, by Senate leader Bill Lockyer (D-Hayward): Would seek to identify youngsters in danger of becoming habitual criminals and provide early intervention and prevention strategies.