Victims of Gun Violence Joining Forces to Bell NRA

Mary Leigh and Charles Blek of Trabuco Canyon leave today for their first National Rifle Assn. gathering in Denver. But they won’t be sitting cozy with Charlton Heston.

They’ll be part of a human chain of silent protesters joining hands all around the Adam’s Mark Hotel on Saturday, where NRA president Heston will convene the annual meeting. The Bleks will be with those ringing the bell for the victims of Littleton.

The bell, which signifies peace and stability, is also now the symbol for a new national gun control alliance that the Bleks are part of. It’s called the Bell Campaign, and it’s composed of scores of smaller regional groups across the nation. It differs from other gun control advocates in a unique way: Its members are all victims of gun violence.

The Bleks became involved in gun issues after their 21-year-old son, Matthew, was shot to death with a cheap handgun by teens five years ago while on a visit to New York. They’re now leaders of the county’s largest gun control group, Orange County Citizens for the Prevention of Gun Violence. That led them to a coalition of groups across the country that ended up creating this new victims alliance.

The Bell Campaign, backed by a $4.3-million grant from the San Francisco-based Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, had spent months making elaborate plans for a big splash launch. It expected to hold simultaneous news conferences in six major cities across the U.S. on May 25 to announce its existence as a new voice in the national gun control effort.

But the Columbine High School killing spree at Littleton, Colo., last week led the Bell people to alter their plans. They will be among those joining the Denver protest Saturday put together by the Colorado Coalition Against Gun Violence.

Though the Bell Campaign will still hold its May 25 gatherings, its leadership agreed to my request to break the embargo on announcing its formation, to better explain why its members will be in Denver.

Mary Leigh Blek is now western regional director of the new Bell Campaign. It will take her from Alaska to Arizona in the next few months. It’s a full-time job, but an unpaid one. The Bleks agreed from the beginning they would never accept payment for any of their anti-gun efforts stemming from their son’s death.

The Bleks know the Bell Campaign will be accused by some gun supporters of exploiting the Littleton tragedy. They don’t see it that way.

“We feel an empathy that only other gun violence victims can communicate,” Charles Blek said. “We want to be there for the people of Littleton.”

When news of massacre came on April 20, the Bleks’ Laguna Hills-

based local gun control group was besieged with calls and e-mails from others in the Bell Campaign, urging that they had to respond.

“There was adrenaline running that we needed to do something,” Charles Blek said.

Joining the Colorado group on Saturday seemed the compelling answer.

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Thousands are expected to meet at the state capitol in Denver that morning and then move on to the NRA convention.

After Saturday, Bell Campaign people will turn their attention to legislation state by state.

Gun control groups in California have lobbied hard for renewed efforts to pass bills that former Gov. Pete Wilson had vetoed, but Gov. Gray Davis can be expected to sign.

Last week the Assembly passed, by a 42-30 vote, a law enforcement-backed bill to make it illegal to buy more than one handgun per month (AB 202). The idea is to stop multiple purchases, which often are resold to criminals or teens who can’t buy guns on their own.

Los Angeles this week become the first city in California to pass a similar measure.

Orange County had one lone “yes” vote on AB 202, Assemblyman Lou Correa (D-Anaheim). Voting against it were Republicans Scott Baugh of Huntington Beach, Patricia C. Bates of Laguna Niguel and Dick Ackerman of Fullerton. Republicans Ken Maddox of Garden Grove and Marilyn C. Brewer of Irvine chose not to vote.

The bill, expected to easily pass on the Senate side, seems such a tame measure. In a letter to one of her constituents, Bates explained her “no” vote: “AB 202 does not resolve the enforcement issues which exist under the current restraints.”

Translation for this non sequitur: I don’t want to be marked as a gun control vote.

Two more gun control votes we can expect to pass and be signed by Davis: establishment of basic safety standards (which would ban Saturday night specials) and a ban on assault weapons.

The NRA opposes all these measures, of course. I read with interest when one of their local advocates recently wrote that responsible gun owners should not be held accountable for the tragedy in Littleton.

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Which is so sadly off point. No one is saying they should be. Only that the obstinate views of their leaders stand in the way of reasonable legislation on controlling gun violence.

We don’t know yet how effective the Bell Campaign will be in assisting the gun control cause. But the generous Goldman family donation will help give it clout.

“We will be modeled after Mothers Against Drunk Driving [MADD],” said Andrew McGuire of San Francisco, the Bell Campaign’s executive director.

And with good reason. Beckie Brown of New Port Richey, Fla., a founding member of MADD, is also on the Bell Campaign board. Brown not only lost a son to a drunk driver, she lost another in a shooting incident.

The NRA might take note of Mary Leigh Blek’s vow that the Bell Campaign will be a force:

“Because we are victims, we have the passion to keep at this for the long run.”

Jerry Hicks’ column appears Monday and Thursday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling (714) 564-1049 or e-mail to jerry.hicks@latimes.com.