Legislature’s Democrats Plan to Push Gun Control

Ignoring Gov. Gray Davis’ appeal for a timeout on new gun controls, Democrats plan to start pushing sweeping proposals to license handgun owners and register their firearms when the Legislature convenes today for its 2000 session.

The controversial election-year plan promises to be a centerpiece of Democrats’ lawmaking efforts, especially urban liberals convinced that voters want even tougher restrictions than the strong controls enacted in 1999 with Davis’ backing.

One plan being advanced by Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa, a candidate for mayor of Los Angeles, would require prospective buyers to be tested for competency in the safe handling and firing of a pistol or revolver as a requirement for getting a license.

“It seems to me that for an inherently dangerous activity like owning a gun, one should have to be able to certify competency and proficiency in the use of that gun,” Democrat Villaraigosa said in an interview last week.

No one knows how many handguns are in California households. Steve Helsley, lobbyist for the National Rifle Assn., estimated they may total from 7 million to 10 million. According to Department of Justice records, at least 2.6 million were legally sold in California from 1990 through 1998.

Proponents of gun owner licensing and registration concede that without Davis in their corner, they face an uphill fight to win approval of major new firearms bills. They also anticipate strong opposition from gun owner groups, which are expected to focus on Democrats in swing districts, especially in the Central Valley.

The debate is expected to be emotional--and closely watched by presidential candidates, especially Democrats Bill Bradley and Al Gore, who are advancing their own gun control proposals as they stump California for the March 7 primary. And the debate will certainly be a bellwether for whether the nation will embrace even stronger gun controls.

The Democrats, who control both houses of the Legislature, began disclosing details of their proposed bills as they prepared for today’s start of the second half of the two-year session.

It will be a week laden with the ceremony of state government. Davis will make his second State of the State speech to a televised joint meeting of the Senate and Assembly on Wednesday. Next Monday, he will submit his state budget, which is expected to reach at least $85 billion (up from $81 billion) as the California economy shifts into overdrive.

Other major issues for the governor and lawmakers include: fine tuning reforms of the public schools enacted in 1999, considering an Oregon-style physician-assisted suicide law, and dishing out about $3 billion in unanticipated tax revenues.

Last year, Davis signed into law five major gun control bills that he called the toughest in the nation. Among them was one strengthening California’s assault weapons law. But in October, shortly after the Legislature adjourned, the governor called for a moratorium on new legislation.

In a series of messages accompanying his veto of three relatively minor gun bills then, Davis called on lawmakers to enact no “significant” gun legislation this year “until the impact of the laws recently enacted can be measured and analyzed.”

‘He hasn’t backed off on that,” said Linda Chou, a Davis spokeswoman.

But Democrats are pressing ahead, fueled in part by the campaigns of Vice President Gore and former Sen. Bradley of New Jersey and opinion polls showing Americans in favor of stricter firearms laws.

In past legislative sessions, registration of guns and licensing of owners have been casually discussed but quickly abandoned as unrealistic in a state where firearms have been part of the culture since frontier times.

But the landscape is changing as voters increasingly are troubled by shootings at schools and elsewhere.

Behind the scenes, lawmakers are grappling with a variety of ideas. Besides Villaraigosa’s, a second draft proposal, sponsored by Handgun Control Inc., would require registration of millions of handguns and annual registration renewals, just as motorists must do for their vehicles.

“We want to have all currently owned handguns registered,” said Luis Tolley, western director of Handgun Control. He said regularly updated records would help police identify owners of guns used in crimes.

Assemblyman Jack Scott (D-Pasadena), chairman of the Assembly Select Committee on Gun Violence, and other Democrats voice concern that gun control momentum may be lost if the Legislature backs off.

“I will certainly listen to the governor,” said Scott, who intends to introduce a licensing and registration bill. But he added: “I think we have to go ahead with legislation. . . . This is what people are asking for.”

Other Democrats who have indicated they intend to carry parts of the package include Assemblyman Kevin Shelley of San Francisco and Sen. Don Perata of Alameda, author of California’s new assault weapons law.

Senate President Pro Tem John Burton (D-San Francisco), also a supporter of gun controls, said he believes Davis may change his mind and agree to support a registration and licensing bill.

“If there is strong legislative support and strong support [publicly], I think he’d sign it,” Burton said.

But gun owner organizations, many of which view registration as a precursor to confiscation of firearms, can be counted on to fiercely oppose licensing and registration bills.

Helsley, the lobbyist for the NRA, said he saw no reasonable chance of such legislation being enacted this session, warning of likely new taxes or fees that gun owners would pay to finance the program.

“It may poll well, but then you get to the details. You are talking about creating a DMV for handguns. If you are talking about annual registration, then you are talking about a big, big bureaucracy,” Helsley said.

Currently, purchasers must wait 10 days before taking possession of their handguns and undergo a background check for criminal activity and history of mental illness. A permanent record of the sale is kept by the Department of Justice.

At retail outlets, handgun buyers now must pass a multiple choice quiz on safety and gun laws or watch a video before they can take possession of the weapon. Critics complain that the test is too easy and that thousands of people are exempt from it, including licensed hunters and former members of the military.

Handgun Control’s plan would require a hands-on competency test, including the safe clearing of a jammed weapon, and a possible firing test. Applicants for the four-year license would be thumb printed at local police and sheriff departments and be required to file a list of all the handguns they own.

Tolley said that kind of testing would help ensure that gun buyers are trained in safe handling and use of firearms.