Gore Discusses School Safety, Gun Control in Santa Monica

The banner behind the podium at Santa Monica High School said “Alfredo 4 President.”

That was for Alfredo Avila, candidate for president of the school’s Student Council on a “student independence” platform. Special elections were held at the Westside high school this week after having been called off in the spring when some troublemakers threw live white mice during a campaign rally.

But standing on the steps of the school Friday morning was Vice President Al Gore. He appeared at the campus to receive public endorsement in his race for the presidency from Gov. Gray Davis.

“As a former lieutenant governor,” Davis joked, “I’m always glad to see the No. 2 guy move up!”

Gore responded by naming Davis “National Charisma Advisor for my campaign.”

“I think he’s here for, like, the 2000 elections thing,” said Katie Reilly, 15, a member of the high school color guard and choir, who was standing nearby with her friend Christine Florence, also 15. Both girls said they were too nervous about their performance during halftime of the Friday night game against Palisades High to worry much about the American presidency.

Later, Gore and Davis went inside to discuss education and school safety with students assembled in the library.

Gore praised Davis and the California Legislature for the recent passage of gun control laws. He said that if elected president he would urge similar national laws banning assault weapons and cheap Saturday night special handguns.

The vice president said he advocates “zero tolerance” for guns in school but also favors the creation of “second chance” rehabilitative schools for students caught with weapons.

Unlike some schools in Los Angeles County, Santa Monica High, with 3,000 students, has not experienced many cases of guns and violence on its attractive campus. Last fall, however, a nearby clothing store was the site of a gang-related shootout in which two men were killed.

That incident, said state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles), whose oldest son went to the high school, reminded the students that the violence they have heard and read about is not that far away.

“This is a good, diverse student body,” Hayden said, “but these shootings and killings were just next door.”

One student, 17-year-old David Linder, stood up to confront Gore on the state’s proposed gun laws. “You, vice president, know it’s not the guns but the people who use them.”

To the applause of his fellow students, Linder said what America needs is for “someone to stand up and be the man!”

After watching Gore work the student crowd in the library, Alfredo Avila, the candidate for student body president, said he was not sure Gore was that man. Avila, 16, whose mother is a janitor in Santa Monica and whose father lives in Mexico, said he was “not really impressed” by Gore’s ideas.

“Really, he just said all the things you expect him to say,” Avila said.