Board Bans ‘Junk Guns,’ Considers Suing Makers

Los Angeles County banned the sale of so-called “junk guns” Tuesday, and took preliminary steps toward becoming the nation’s largest government agency to sue the handgun industry.

A sometimes rambunctious 160-minute debate over a wide array of gun proposals dominated the Board of Supervisors’ weekly meeting. It ended with sheriff’s deputies ejecting one activist from the chamber for yelling that Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke was a “sellout” for supporting the ban of cheap Saturday night special handguns. Some critics of such bans contend that they deprive poor residents of affordable self-defense.

The county’s ban on the sale of Saturday night specials in unincorporated areas has been stalled for two years while challenges to a similar law wound their way through the courts. It will return to the board next week for a second reading before taking effect.

The supervisors also asked county attorneys to explore filing a suit similar to those undertaken by cities such as Chicago and New Orleans, which recently have taken action against the gun industry to recoup law enforcement and public health costs linked to gun violence.

“When you see the kind of problems that are created by gun violence across the county of Los Angeles, it is very important that we supervisors take action,” said Supervisor Gloria Molina, who proposed exploration of the lawsuit.

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who proposed the Saturday night special ban two years ago, said, “The time has come for the nation’s largest county to set an example.”

The city of Los Angeles recently enacted a groundbreaking law limiting gun purchases to one per month. The architect of that statute, City Councilman Mike Feuer, complimented the board on its new measures Tuesday and urged supervisors to coordinate gun control efforts with the city’s.

Meanwhile, the most conservative supervisor, Mike Antonovich--an opponent of gun control--urged his colleagues to push for a mandatory 50-year prison sentence for anyone who uses a gun during a crime instead of regulating firearms.

With more liberal supervisors’ offices fearing that such a measure would vastly increase the cost of the state’s prisons, Yaroslavsky effectively neutralized the issue by changing the proposal to request a report from law enforcement on the impact of such a law.

Opponents of gun control contended that tougher prison terms were a better solution to gun violence than the board’s other actions.

“Our county tax dollars should be used to apprehend and punish those who illegally use guns,” said Penny Bradley, a gun control opponent who gave the board a box of what she said were 2,000 signed papers protesting the gun control motions.

But Pomona activist Bernard Rosa said his city, which enacted a Saturday night special ban in 1997, has seen illegal guns dwindle. “This initiative does work,” he said.

Yaroslavsky noted that the ban has the support of Sheriff Lee Baca, whose office would determine which weapons are covered by the ordinance.

Other proponents of the ban--ranging from emergency room doctors to residents who have lost family members to the small “junk guns,” scoffed at objections from representatives of the National Rifle Assn. and other gun groups.

“Walk two blocks in my shoes and tell me guns don’t kill,” said Charlotte Austin-Johnson of the Crenshaw district, who has lost three children to gun violence.

But Antonovich, surrounded by colorful charts depicting the alleged failure of gun control laws and the success of long prison terms, grilled a Sheriff’s Department official about whether Saturday night specials are as dangerous as advertised.

Chief Curtis Spears conceded that the department has only anecdotal evidence that the guns were used in 80% of all gun crimes in the county, as the language of the ordinance asserts, and said that in safety tests, no such gun exploded--another contention of the ban’s proponents.

“What we have before us is a form of cotton candy,” Antonovich said. “It’s very fluffy and very sweet, but there’s not a damn bit of substance in it.”

Antonovich and fellow Republican Don Knabe opposed the ban, which passed with support from Yaroslavsky, Molina and Burke.

Knabe joined the more liberal board members in approving the lawsuit study, which gun control advocates and supervisors hailed as a crucial step toward curbing gun violence.

“Product liability is the reality of today,” Burke said. “We have a responsibility to try to protect those who are not protecting themselves.”