Yaroslavsky Seeks to Bar Sale of Guns on County Property

Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky plans to introduce an ordinance today that would ban the sale of guns and ammunition on all county-owned property--a move that would end the controversial gun shows at the county’s fairgrounds.

Yaroslavsky said he will propose a separate ordinance outlawing the possession of guns on county-owned property. Both measures would exempt law enforcement officers and civilians who have a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

The two-pronged effort comes one week after Buford O. Furrow Jr. allegedly shot and killed a letter carrier on a Chatsworth street shortly after wounding three young children, a camp counselor and a receptionist at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills.

Yaroslavsky said the time has come “to end the sale of guns and the sale of ammunition on any of our property.”

He expressed confidence that the county has the power to outlaw the sale of weapons and ammunition in its buildings, parks and public places, including the fairgrounds in Pomona, where gun shows are held four times a year.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in April 1997 overturned an effort by Santa Clara County to ban gun sales specifically at its county fairgrounds. The court found the prohibition violated the 1st Amendment rights of gun dealers because it outlawed “commercial speech.”

In its decision, the three-judge panel concluded that weapons sales at gun shows were a “lawful activity” because there was no local ordinance banning such sales generally.

Yaroslavsky, however, said, “We are not banning gun shows per se. The issue is sale of guns and ammunition on county property. We think it’s putting our public at risk.”

State and federal agents, working undercover, made five arrests after arranging to purchase illegal weapons at the last two gun shows in May and July.

With the ordinance still being drafted, it was not immediately clear whether Yaroslavsky would have enough support among his colleagues to pass such a measure.

Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke joined in expressing concern about “people purchasing guns on county of Los Angeles-owned property. I don’t think it’s going too far to say we’re not in the gun business.

“If we continue to allow county property to be where you sell these semiautomatic weapons and implements of destruction, we are really part of the problem,” Burke said.

Supervisor Gloria Molina, who led a successful effort to get the county to file a lawsuit against gun makers was on vacation in Brazil and could not be reached for comment.

Supervisor Don Knabe also could not be reached for comment Monday. In an interview Sunday, Knabe expressed concern that agents of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had purchased illegal machine guns after making an initial contact with an individual at the Great Western Gun Show in Pomona last month.

James Michael Swain of Newport Beach was arrested last Tuesday for allegedly selling machine guns to ATF agents. Swain was arrested after he sold six machine guns to agents and later attempted to deliver 10 other automatic weapons, according to Richard A. Curd, director of the Los Angeles Division of the ATF. Swain has pleaded not guilty to federal weapons charges.

“These guns should not be on the street,” Knabe said.

In addressing the issue of gun shows at the fairgrounds, Knabe said the county needs to respect gun owners’ constitutional right to keep and bear arms. But Knabe added that the supervisors may have to take action on the gun shows if law enforcement officials say, “You are going to have to shut it down.”

Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who frequently takes the side of gun owners, could not be reached for comment on Yaroslavsky’s proposed ordinances.

The move to broadly ban the sale or possession of guns and ammunition is likely to generate strong opposition from the gun industry and the National Rifle Assn. Yaroslavsky said he is willing to fight.

“To the gun industry or the NRA,” Yaroslavsky said, “go ahead, make my day.” He said the legal contest would be “very interesting.”

Yaroslavsky’s effort comes at a critical time. The president of Fairplex, the Pomoma complex where the Great Western Gun Shows are held, is demanding that the county agree to compensate the Los Angeles County Fair Assn. if the gun shows are canceled. The association has a long-term contract to operate the facility on the county’s behalf.

James E. Henwood wrote county Chief Administrative Officer David Janssen a strongly worded letter Thursday saying the fair association would sign a contract with the gun show promoter unless the county acts immediately to cover the $600,000 in annual net income received from hosting the gun shows.

Janssen on Monday described the letter as “an ultimatum” and said the supervisors need to give him direction about how they want to respond.

Chad Seger, manager of the Great Western Gun Show, said he had not seen Yaroslavsky’s proposed ordinances.

But Seger said earlier that Yaroslavsky’s goal of ending the gun show at Fairplex is “political grandstanding. He’s just trying to capitalize on some very tragic events for his political gain.”

Seger said Great Western has worked closely with law enforcement agencies to increase security at the gun shows. He denied that any illegal automatic weapons were sold at the show in July.

“If we had fully automatic weapons at the show, we wouldn’t have a show,” he said.

But Curd told reporters Friday that ATF agents made their initial contact with Swain at a vendor’s table during the July show. He said Swain ultimately sold six illegal machine guns to officers, who then negotiated to buy more weapons.

At their press conference, ATF agents issued a chart showing that three of the weapons possessed by the two gunmen involved in the February 1997 North Hollywood bank shootout were traced to a Pomona gun show. Ten other weapons recovered after the men died in a firefight with police were traced to other gun shows.