Democrats to push gun control

Legislature's Democrats Plan to Push Gun Control
Capitol: As 2000 session opens today, they intend to pursue tough bills on registering handguns and licensing owners. The battle is expected to be hard fought and closely watched by Bradley, Gore.

By CARL INGRAM, MARK GLADSTONE, Times Staff Writers

SACRAMENTO--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.