Which Way, L.A.?
Gun Bans
Two anti-gun laws won narrow approval in the Legislature last week -- one aimed at assault weapons, the other at the cheap handguns known as Saturday Night Specials. Opponents say the assault weapon ban targets guns not used often in crimes, and that the ban on Saturday Night Specials discriminates against poor people who most need protection. Will banning guns make us safer, or insure that only criminals have guns?
By Warren Olney • • 1 min readGeorge Skelton: Sacramento based columnist for the Los Angeles Times. Don Perata: Assemblyman (D-Alameda); author of a generic assault weapon ban that goes further than both federal restrictions and the state's landmark 1989 law that sought to prohibit such semi-automatic weapons. It narrowly passed the Assembly and is given good chances in the Senate. Richard Mountjoy: State Senator (R-29 San Gabriel Valley); generally an opponent of gun control legislation. Louis Caldera: State Assemblyman (D-Los Angeles); author of AB 488 which would ban manufacture and sale of Saturday night specials and other so-called junk guns. Garren Wintemute, MD: Emergency room physician and director of the Violence Prevention Research Program at UC Davis. Author of report on Southern California gun manufacturers, called "Ring of Fire". Jim Waldorf: Owner and president of Lorcin Engineering (in Mira Loma). Lewis Tolley: Western Regional Director, Handgun Control and the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence. Sandi Webb: Member of the Simi Valley City Council; outspoken advocate of the right to bear arms. Rich varenchik: Spokesman for the California Air Resources Board.Susan Belden: Editor of the No Load Fund Analyst, one of the highest ranked mutual fund newsletters.
topic: Air Resource Board to launch So. Cal. ozone study
