GUN CONTROL DOES SAVE LIVES; ELECTED OFFICIALS, HOWEVER, DON'T DO ENOUGH TO RESPOND.

Byline: EARL O. HUTCHINSON

THE recent call by the nation's Presbyterian church leaders for its members to get rid of all handguns and assault weapons in their homes again made me wonder what our state and local officials are doing to reduce the number of guns in California. I'm not just talking about the guns that seem all-too-easily to wind up in the hands of nearly anyone who produces an ID card and cash to buy one.

We don't need to look at the wave of murderous rampages by high school students in Mississippi, Arkansas, Oregon and Virginia for proof that many innocent young people are at deadly risk from gunplay. In California, a child is more likely to die from a gun than from a car crash.

There is growing evidence of the link between violent crime and guns. A new study by David Kennedy, a social researcher at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, shows that there are huge drops in teen gun-related violence when the flow of guns is drastically cut.

Since city officials in Boston tightened restrictions on gun sales two years ago, no teens have died in that city from gun-related violence. Twenty-five cities nationally are now considering enacting gun control measures similar to Boston's. Also, despite fierce opposition from the National Rifle Association, the Brady Bill seems to be working. In 1997, the law prevented nearly 70,000 illegal gun sales, mostly cheap handguns and assault weapons. This almost certainly has been a big factor in causing the crime rate to plunge, and has saved hundreds of lives.

Still, the NRA is right when it claims that banning assault weapons alone does little to reduce gun-related crime and violence since these are the weapons not generally used by criminals. But getting public officials to ban assault weapons could embolden them to pass stronger restrictions on the sale and purchase of the weapons that are used by violent criminals, namely handguns. Despite the relentlessly high number of gun deaths in California, a big drop-off in NRA membership and public pressure to do more about gun violence, state legislators are still dragging their feet on tougher gun laws.

The three measures kicking around in the state Legislature that would ban even more types of assault weapons, restrict the sale of junk guns and tighten security standards for gun makers are prime examples of how rough it is to get any gun laws passed. The assault weapons bill would revise the Roberti-Ross Assault Weapons Act of 1989 by adding a clearer definition of the types of guns that the attorney general can add to a list of ``restricted weapons.'' The legislation is in response to a recent appeals court decision that struck down a part of the 1989 law on the grounds that it was so vague, and a violation of due process.

The second piece of legislation, which bans the sale and manufacture of junk guns, is no sure shot to become law even though the federal government has banned importation in the U.S. for 30 years. The kicker is that more than 70 percent of the junk guns sold in the United States are manufactured by six Southern California companies known as the Ring of Fire. They obviously have a huge vested interest in torpedoing this bill. A similar bill that passed the Legislature in 1997 was vetoed by Gov. Pete Wilson.

Hoping to avoid the same fate, the sponsors of this version of the bill based it directly on the safety standards established by the National Institute of Safety Standards for Law Enforcement. This still may not be enough to get it into the law. The bill has been bottled up since mid-May in the Assembly, and Wilson has not indicated whether he will sign the bill even if it does pass.

The third measure places no restrictions on gun ownership but mandates uniform security standards at firearms plants. The aim of this bill is to prevent the theft of handguns from Southern California plants. According to a recent documentary on PBS' ``Frontline,'' thousands of handguns were stolen last year from Lorcin Engineering's Southern California plant. The bill passed the Assembly in May, and now awaits Senate action. On paper anyway, it seems a good bet to pass the Legislature. However, given the checkered history of gun control legislation I'm not uncorking the champagne bottle and celebrating yet.

With the prospects dim of getting any other significant gun control legislation introduced in the state Legislature this year, the question is what are local officials doing to stem the gun flow? Their efforts have been mixed.

While 39 California cities and counties, including Los Angeles, have passed ordinances that ban the sale of cheap handguns known as Saturday night specials, it has not translated out into a uniform ban on junk guns. The Long Beach City Council voted unanimously against an ordinance to ban junk guns, and the Los Angeles County supervisors hedged their bets by voting to ban junk guns only in the unincorporated areas of the county.

The resistance to tougher gun control laws can't be chalked up simply to the power and money of the NRA and gun manufacturers. Many gun owners and non-gun-owners fear that gun control laws violate the Second Amendment right to bear arms, and would open the floodgates for the passage of more laws that would take away more rights, while doing nothing to keep guns out of the hands of criminals.

A number of Presbyterian church members in Los Angeles voiced these reservations about their leader's anti-gun stance. Some were even offended that they had dared mingle religion with politics.

These are legitimate fears. Yet they still crash against the hard reality that guns, both legal and illegal, do kill lots of people, and that reducing the numbers of guns in private hands does save lives.

Although the NRA and gun manufacturers still pretty much get their way in the state Legislature and with many local officials, more of the public should and will demand that elected officials enact tougher gun laws. Let's hope it doesn't take more carnage at a high school or on our streets to get state and local officials to do the right thing and permanently ban the sale of junk guns and assault weapons in California.