Pete Wilson’s Twisted Logic on Handguns

On June 5, 1968, I hit the pause button on my tape recorder in a room at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles as Bobby Kennedy stood up, smiled impishly, and said he had to go downstairs but would be back soon to finish our interview. He never returned. A bullet from a cheap .22-caliber pistol claimed his life at a reception crowded with cheering campaign supporters who had hoped that he could lead us to a less violent world.

I thought of Kennedy when Gov. Pete Wilson, another politician who once had the potential to lead, chose instead to use his veto power to derail a ban on the so-called “Saturday night specials,” taking us further into the pain of crippling injuries and death that guns represent.

The one good thing that had come out of Kennedy’s death, it was said then, was that the import of cheap handguns of the type that killed him would be permanently banned. The country was bathed in sorrow, and the expression of contempt for the “junk” pistols manufactured abroad was nearly unanimous.

They were called “junk” because of their unreliability, and the federal legislation banning them represented safety standards that any sane person would applaud. For example, the new regulations required that a gun ought not to go off when dropped.

But the federal regulations only applied to guns manufactured abroad, and in the ensuing years, domestic manufacturers exploited the ban by producing millions of copycat junk handguns, subverting the law’s intent. Today, 80% of the cheap handguns that are exempt from federal safety standards are manufactured in Southern California--700,000 a year.

Therefore, it was highly commendable when the California Legislature last week finally had the guts to take on the gun lobby and pass legislation applying the federal standard on imported guns to those manufactured in the state.

Unfortunately, the National Rifle Assn., which supported the original measure 30 years ago, has grown far more fanatical and opposed the new measures. And in a shocking display of craven political cowardice and opportunism, Wilson caved in to the NRA and vetoed this eminently sensible bill.

This act of stupidity well serves Wilson’s ambition to secure the Republican presidential nomination in the next election, increasing his appeal to the lunatic fringe that plays such a vital role in the Republican Party. He may be burdened by being pro-choice, but the NRA types who care more about the bullet than the fetus can now be counted on to support him.

His deceit was perfect: Appear moderate while sucking up to the gun nuts. In defending his veto, Wilson defined the Saturday night special as an affirmative action weapon. His goal is to keep guns cheap enough for poor people to purchase, arguing that a ban “ignores the fact that millions of law-abiding Californians--including a growing number of women--have felt the need to own concealable weapons.”

That’s a hell of an advertisement for the state that he has led for almost seven years: Millions of its inhabitants feel the need to keep unsafe weapons hidden on their person or in their homes despite a marked nationwide drop in the violent crime rate. How dare Wilson suggest that we need even more guns when he governs a state in which more kids are killed by handguns than by disease, car crashes or drugs?

Why would anyone want to elevate the governor of a state he himself describes as so lawless to be the nation’s chief executive? Or continue to call a man who wimps out to the NRA a moderate?

What Wilson truly represents is the bankruptcy of the moderate wing of his party. Under his tenure as governor, there has been more than a 30% drop in the share of the state budget going to the once proud but now crumbling state university system, with 10,000 employees laid off. But the market for prison guards has been booming, and their ranks have increased by that same 10,000 figure. More guns, more crime, more arrests, more prisons--it’s a growth industry.

At the same time, Wilson has not lifted a finger to help residents of inner cities deal with degenerating neighborhoods. It is a refined arrogance that defines this politician who has made a career of baiting immigrants, cutting social services and gutting affirmative action, and yet now comes bearing the gift of affordable handguns to those consigned to live their lives in fear in neighborhoods that are more properly thought of as shooting galleries.

What a vision--cheap guns for mothers of infants already sleeping in bathtubs to avoid the random gunfire that is their bedtime music.