BAN ON CHEAP HANDGUN GAINS HIGH VELOCITY.

Byline: Ann Reiss Lane and Susan Shaw 

THE vote of the Los Angeles City Council last Wednesday, for once, was unanimous: ban the sales of ``Saturday night special'' handguns.

With that vote, the City Council joined West Hollywood, Compton and nine northern California cities in a movement that is sweeping the state.

Local governments are hearing their constituents and, in the process, telling Sacramento - just as they did with the assault weapons ban - that the level of gun violence is totally unacceptable and whatever steps are possible must be taken.

Even Councilman Hal Bernson, who usually opposes limitations on guns, found the arguments so compelling that he joined the unanimous vote. Said Bernson, who represents the northwest Valley, ``We have to keep these guns out of criminals' hands.''

When Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg and her co-sponsors Laura Chick, Ruth Galanter and Rita Walters introduced the ordinance last spring, no one could have predicted a unanimous vote.

But with that vote, four women and nine men, our elected representatives, struck a blow for public health and safety, and the youngest people of Los Angeles.

Young people are most often the victims - and the shooters, and the weapon of choice is the Saturday night special. Twenty such handguns were found on school grounds in 1995 according to LAPD booking records. In fact, 13 percent of the guns recovered at all crime scenes were Saturday night specials.

The lone dissenter was Councilman Rudy Svorinich who represents Wilmington, San Pedro and Watts. He claimed that the measure would be meaningless because people in his district could purchase guns easily from cities where no ban exists.

That's precisely why Women Against Gun Violence, with the leadership and assistance of Jackie Goldberg and West Hollywood Councilmember Abbe Land, is working to enlighten other jurisdictions about the dangers of Saturday night specials, before all those gun sales to potential criminals are squeezed into their communities.

We were prepared, along with representatives from many of our 115 partner organizations, to present testimony in support of the ban at council chambers Wednesday. But that became unnecessary when no one showed up to oppose it, not even the gun lobby.

Perhaps the reason the gun lobby failed to make an appearance was because the City Council was merely reflecting the views of 81 percent of the Los Angeles County gun owners who support cities' banning the sale of Saturday night specials, according to a recent survey (EDK Associates, Inc., April 1995).

What is clear, however, is that the gun lobby and the leadership of the National Rifle Association prefer setting policy in the courtrooms than in the court of public opinion.

West Hollywood's ordinance is being challenged by the California Rifle and Pistol Association and the National Rifle Association.

The NRA liaison for California was quoted after the vote as saying, ``There have been a collection of opinions from the California Supreme Court and others that cities have been pre-empted in this field.'' In other words, only the state - not local - government has the authority to pass any laws governing gun sales.

But a group of lawyers providing free legal services to local city attorneys statewide disagrees. On behalf of the Legal Community Against Violence, Eric Gorovitz argues that state law does not make local governments powerless to protect the citizens from particularly dangerous handguns.

``No California court has ever agreed with the gun lobby's expansive interpretation of the law,'' he points out. ``The cases strongly suggest that local governments retain the authority to ban Saturday night specials.''

Gun dealers and the gun lobby don't even try to argue these guns have legitimate sporting purposes, for they are far too inaccurate and unreliable. A gun trade magazine, Gun Tests, found these cheap handguns offer ``unsophisticated safety systems, few convenient features and limited durability . . . none should be carried with a round in the chamber.''

The West Hollywood ordinance, upon which L.A.'s ban is modeled, includes a list, prepared by a gun technician, of the weapons to be banned.

The guns are described in the ordinance in technical terms, but they are basically guns that can be easily concealed on a person, made of materials that melt easily, do not have non-detachable trigger guards, and are small enough to fit in even a child's hand. For the most part, they are very inexpensive (under $100) because they are so cheaply made.

That ordinance also makes it the responsibility of the gun manufacturer to appeal the ban on a particular gun and show why it does not fit the criteria and should not be banned. The list of banned guns will be reviewed every six months.

Bans on the sales of Saturday night specials have overwhelming support. The EDK poll found 88 percent of those surveyed in Los Angeles County supported city bans.

The leadership of law enforcement in the county supports banning Saturday night special sales as one way to reduce the proliferation of guns - and that alone, should encourage all of our local jurisdictions to take a look at their policies, and that includes the county as well.

If the state and federal governments aren't willing to act without citizens demanding action, then we must speak out in our communities.

We need to tell our councilmembers, supervisors and school boards that Saturday night specials don't belong in our neighborhoods, our streets, our homes or our schools. We can't spare one more life.

MEMO: Ann Reiss Lane, a former Los Angeles Police Commissioner, is the chairman and co-founder of Women Against Gun Violence. Susan Shaw is the executive director.