GUN-CONTROL BILLS LANGUISH IN ASSEMBLY.

Byline: Paul Hefner Daily News Sacramento Bureau

A pair of gun-control measures encountered stiff opposition in the state Assembly on Tuesday, where even a proposal from a high-ranking Democrat fell far short of the support needed for passage.

Though officials held open the voting rolls into the evening to try to round up support, lawmakers appeared ready to reject both bills, including one by Assembly Majority Floor Leader Antonio Villaraigosa, D-Los Angeles.

His proposal, Assembly Bill 136, would allow local governments to impose their own gun registration and licensing laws. Villaraigosa said the measure would allow areas where gun violence is worst to take steps to address the issue.

``For some, it's not an issue of epidemic proportions,'' Villaraigosa said. ``For some of us, it is.''

But opponents contended that allowing neighboring areas to have vastly different laws would be too confusing.

``I'm greatly concerned that we are giving hundreds of jurisdictions the green light to impose hundreds of different ordinances,'' said Assemblywoman Lynne C. Leach, R-Walnut Creek.

In an initial tally, Villaraigosa's bill had only 24 yes votes, with 43 lawmakers voting no.

Assemblyman Louis Caldera, D-Los Angeles, ran into similar opposition to his bill to bar the sale or manufacture of handguns that don't meet federal import standards.

The proposal drew an impassioned speech in opposition from Assemblyman Roderick Wright, D-Los Angeles. He said that gun-control advocates were targeting low-cost weapons for no good reason.

``This always comes from people who don't own guns,'' he said. ``If what you want to do is ban handguns, then stand up and say it.''

The votes came as both houses considered dozens of bills as Friday's deadline for moving bills from their house of origin approached. In other action:

The Assembly approved on a vote of 42-32 a bill that would restore the requirement that employers pay overtime after eight hours of work each day. The measure, AB 15, would counter a move by the state's Industrial Welfare Commission, which voted in April to require overtime only after 40 hours of work during a week.

In the Senate, lawmakers rejected two bills supporters claimed would have lowered gas prices by stepping up competition among service stations. Senators rejected 14-18 a measure to allow stations to buy gasoline from any vendor in their franchiser's wholesale network. On a vote of 10-19, the Senate also turned back a bill by Quentin Kopp, I-South San Francisco, that would have monitored the percentage of fuel sold through stations owned and operated by oil companies.

In a move to try to curb credit fraud, the Senate approved a bill by Sen. Herschel Rosenthal, D-Van Nuys, that would require credit issuers to try to verify change of address requests before sending out new cards.