DAVIS BACKS GUN LAW.

Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer

Serenaded by deafening blasts from military-style weapons, Gov. Gray Davis said Monday such firepower would be banned from California under a proposal to bolster the state's landmark assault weapon law.

One semiautomatic pistol used during the demonstration at the Los Angeles Police Department's training center was the same model used by a teen-ager in the recent Littleton, Colo., shootings, the governor said.

``The events in Colorado barely a week ago say more eloquently the need to ban assault weapons than anything else I can say,'' Davis said.

Meanwhile, President Clinton was preparing to announce today several anti-gun proposals including a halt on importing clips that allow assault weapons to fire more than 10 shots without reloading. The president also was expected to call for new checks on buyers at gun shows, a law making it a felony for parents to knowingly or recklessly allow children to have guns, and other steps.

Columbine High School students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were armed with the pistol and a semiautomatic rifle as they killed 12 students and a teacher before shooting themselves, officials said.

``The two suspects had a group of weapons that would make a SWAT team envious,'' Davis noted. ``And while we are asking ourselves how weapons of that incredible destructive power would be in the hands of two young boys, it is very interesting to note that those two weapons are legal today in California and can be obtained on virtually any street corner in this state.''

California has waged a legal battle since it banned military-style weapons in 1989. A decade later, three cases challenging the law are pending before the California Supreme Court.

Davis endorsed legislation by state Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland, to toughen state gun laws.

Perata said his measure, Senate Bill 23, would deal with manufacturers who have used name changes and subtle cosmetic changes to get around the existing state law. He said it also addresses a key court concern that the existing list of weapons could be unconstitutional because outlawed firearms are virtually the same as other models not mentioned.

The measure would ban the manufacture and sale of all ``copycat'' assault weapons by enacting generic definitions of such rifles, pistols and shotguns. It also would ban the manufacture and sale of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.

Gun groups contend that events such as the Colorado shootings and the North Hollywood bank shootout two years ago, while tragic, should not be used to justify a ban on civilian semiautomatic weapons made to look like military firearms.

``We don't think that the concern over assault weapons is justified in view of the amount of problems related to the use of these weapons in crime,'' said Gerald Upholt, spokesman for the California Rifle & Pistol Association, which represents hunters and competition shooters.

Upholt said Perata's measure is too broad and there should be more concern about enforcing existing gun laws and getting tougher on criminals who use firearms.

``No matter what they ban, criminals who want them are going to get them,'' he said. ``This is what's so frustrating about it all.''

Federal law bans the manufacture and importation of assault weapons based on characteristics similar to those in Perata's bill. But the Perata measure only requires a rifle, pistol or shotgun to match one of the characteristics while federal law requires two matches, the lawmaker explained.

``We will finally have a law that takes the most dangerous, fearsome weapons off the streets of California and provides some small measure of safety and protection to our children and the innocent, who are the one who ultimately pay the price by allowing these weapons of war to exist on our streets,'' Perata said.

The legislation proposes generic characteristics to define assault weapons, including the following:

Semiautomatic, center-fire rifle with capacity to accept a detachable magazine and one of the following characteristics: A pistol grip protruding beneath the weapon's action; thumbhole stock; vertical hand grip; folding or telescoping stock; grenade or flare launcher; and a threaded barrel that can accept a flash suppressor, forward hand grip or silencer.

Semiautomatic rifle or pistol with a fixed magazine to accept more than 10 rounds.

Semiautomatic rifle with an overall length of less than 30 inches.

Semiautomatic pistol with capacity for a detachable magazine and one of the following characteristics: a vertical hand grip, a shroud encircling the barrel to prevent burns, excepting a slide for cocking weapon; capacity to accept magazine outside of grip.

Semiautomatic shotgun that has a folding or telescoping stock, a grip protruding beneath the weapon's action, a thumbhole stock, a vertical handgrip.

Semiautomatic shotgun that has the ability to accept a detachable magazine.

Any shotgun with a revolving cylinder.

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PHOTO Gov. Gray Davis compares a legal and nearly identical illegal assault weapon at a Granada Hills press conference.

Tom Mendoza/Daily News