Enough Firepower for Anyone

Is an assault weapon that can fire as many as 19 rounds at a time capable of creating mass mayhem? Or does it take 20? That question might determine whether California will have an effective ban on assault weapons or none at all.

The ability to fire as many as 19 rounds within a few seconds surely should satisfy anyone’s hunger for high-powered hunting or target shooting. We urge Gov. Pete Wilson to sign into law AB 2560, authored by Assemblyman Don Perata, which would allow just that. Wilson should also give his assent to SB 1500, by Sen. Richard G. Polanco (D-Los Angeles), which would write minimal but reasonable safety standards for handguns into state law.

The assault weapons measure is particularly critical. A key element of a 1989 state law that banned 75 models of assault weapons was struck down in the courts last March. The court nullified, as a violation of the separation of powers, a provision that allowed the judiciary to rule on additions to the list of banned weapons. The court also said the list itself, the key part of the law, appeared to be unconstitutional.

The Perata bill substitutes for the list a generic definition of an assault weapon. A key feature provides that the weapon cannot accept a magazine with more than 19 rounds of ammunition. Wilson had been holding out for a 20-round limit, presumably because the industry mass-produces magazines in standard sizes, one of which is 20 rounds.

Perata originally sought to impose a 10-round limit but compromised to make the bill acceptable to Wilson and legislative opponents. “We had to draw the line somewhere,” a Perata aide said. Ten rounds would have been a reasonable limit. How can even the most avid sports shooter argue that 19 is not enough?

Polanco’s bill has vastly scaled back earlier efforts to ban “Saturday night special” handguns and other unsafe “junk guns.” But it does set standards to ensure that handguns fire only when intended and don’t discharge accidentally when dropped.

These safety standards are no more rigorous than the kind we place on children’s toys, home power tools or our automobiles. It’s the least that can be done to make these handguns safer for legitimate users.