GUN SALES FALL BY 14% IN STATE : LUNGREN TOUTS DECLINE BUT OPPOSES BAN.

Byline: Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writer

Gun sales in California dropped 14 percent in 1996, the third straight year of decline since a record high after the Los Angeles riots, state Attorney General Dan Lungren announced Friday.

Lungren, the top Republican candidate for governor next year, came to Los Angeles to make the announcement and joined the debate over movements to ban the sale of cheap handguns or Saturday night specials, saying he believes such measures are ``elitist'' and violate state law.

``In three years, we have gone from record high levels of gun sales to lows we haven't seen since the 1970s,'' Lungren said. ``What is most interesting is the rough correlation of declining gun sales with declining crime rates. . . . There is something good going on out there.''

But Lungren said a ban on Saturday night specials would not be practical or effective.

``I think it's somewhat elitist. . . . I can never understand how it would make sense: If you're a middle-class or upper-middle-class Californian and you can afford to spend $500 or $1,000, that's legal; if you don't happen to have that kind of money and can only spend $50 or $100 for a weapon to defend yourself in your home from a criminal, it would be illegal,'' he said. ``I don't understand that.''

Instead, Lungren said he would prefer to see the state have even tougher laws for criminals who use weapons.

Los Angeles and West Hollywood are among several cities in the state that have banned the sale of cheap handguns. West Hollywood won a victory in Superior Court where its law was upheld. That verdict, however, is being appealed.

The Los Angeles measure has been in effect since September and apparently is being heeded.

``We haven't filed any cases,'' said Assistant City Attorney Henry Morris. ``Apparently, the gun shops in the city are following the law.''

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, who was one of the council members behind the city Saturday night special ban, said she wasn't surprised by Lungren's position.

``It seems to me anytime you can ban guns and get them off the streets, that will help save lives,'' Galanter said. ``This is just like the assault-weapon ban where the state refused to do anything and it was this city that took action. We're not afraid of our responsibility.''

Lungren, however, said he believes the local laws eventually will be overturned because the state is responsible for regulating weapons.

Lungren said he believed the decline in gun sales primarily reflects increased public confidence in the work of law enforcement.

Another possibility, he said, is that markets for guns became saturated.

In 1996, 215,804 Californians bought handguns, a 14 percent drop from the previous year's total.

Sales of all weapons also dropped, from the 1995 figure of 411,668 to last year's total of 353,872.

Gun sales peaked in 1992 and 1993, a two-year period when more than 815,000 handguns were bought by the public, partially in response to the Los Angeles riots, he said.

``People saw the paralysis and inability of the police and decided they had to do something to defend themselves,'' Lungren said. ``Since then, we've seen crime go down, and people are feeling more confident.

Lungren attributed the drop in the crime rate to tougher laws, including the ``three strikes, you're out'' measure giving life sentences to some repeat offenders.

``My hope, my goal, is to drive the crime rate down to the 1950s level. That would make a measurable difference.

``When I see statements that there is no evidence that tougher prison sentences have had no impact, . . . that is just dead wrong,'' Lungren said.

Lungren said he is pleased with efforts to modernize the background checks on people who purchase guns and hopes to see the waiting period reduced from 15 to 10 days.

He said he is surprised at the number of people with criminal backgrounds who apply to buy a gun.

``I wonder if they think we forgot or would overlook their background,'' Lungren said.

Last year, the state refused to allow the sale of guns to 3,642 people, including some with records of homicide, crimes involving weapons or drug dealing.

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Chart

Photo: Gary Spradlin shoots at a Valley range Friday while the state attorney general was in Los Angeles to announce a gun-sales decline.

Tina Gerson/Daily News

Chart: FALLING GUN SALES

SOURCE: State Attorney General