TEEN CRIMINALS' SUPPLY OF JUNK GUNS MUST BE CUT.

Byline: Barbara Boxer 

BY passing a bill to ban the sale and manufacture of junk guns, the California Legislature has breathed new life into the national movement to get these weapons off our streets.

Now the question around the State Capitol is: Will Gov. Pete Wilson sign the bill into law? I hope so, and so should any person who wants to see a reduction in juvenile crime.

Law enforcement agencies, led by the California Police Chiefs Association, fought hard for the bill. Police throughout the state were joined by a broad coalition that included medical, religious, and community-based organizations. Some would say miraculously, this impressive coalition overcame the powerful and well-funded opposition of the National Rifle Association.

A new study released by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms shows that, without question, junk guns are overwhelmingly favored by juvenile criminals. In fact, junk guns have been likened to training wheels because young criminals use them only until they move on to more powerful handguns and assault rifles. If we are to stem the rising tide of juvenile crime, we must begin by getting these dangerous weapons off our streets.

Junk guns, or Saturday night specials, are usually defined as handguns unable to pass the basic quality and safety test now required for imported handguns. Junk guns are cheap and easily concealed, and they lack important safety features.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms study makes clear that junk guns are the preferred weapons of juvenile criminals. To better understand how criminals obtain guns, the bureau entered into an agreement with 17 police departments around the country, and these police departments, representing a broad spectrum of American cities, provided detailed information about every gun found at every crime scene over a nine-month period. The bureau, in turn, traced each gun to its last legal point of sale.

The information collected by the bureau shows that junk guns are used in eight of every 10 cases when criminals 17 and younger use firearms. In fact, junk guns claim four of the five top spots for these youngest criminals.

Interestingly, the study shows that the youngest criminals tend to favor the smallest, lightest and cheapest junk guns, such as the ultra-compact Raven .25.

Among criminals 18 through 24, junk guns are still favored, although higher-powered semiautomatic pistols begin to gain popularity. Of the top-10 guns used by this age group, seven are junk guns, although more powerful handguns claimed two of the top-three spots. Young adult criminals appear to eschew the .25-caliber junk guns in favor of more powerful semiautomatic pistols and assault rifles.

Criminals 25 and older use junk guns far less frequently, preferring higher-powered weapons. Even so, three of the 10 most popular crime guns are junk guns.

The conclusions are unmistakable. The youngest criminals choose the smallest, lowest caliber, least expensive junk guns - most of which are manufactured in Southern California. As they get older, criminals choose a more powerful class of junk guns. As adults, they increasingly abandon their old guns in favor of the most powerful firearms available.

Juvenile crime has become a nationwide problem over the past few years. Since 1990, for example, the incidence of violent crime committed by adults fell 18 percent. At the same time, the number of teen-agers convicted of homicide increased 22 percent. Teen-agers now exceed all age groups, even young adults, in their rate of arrest for violent crimes. While there is no single solution to this problem, there are some obvious answers. The governor has been presented with one of them.

The bill passed by the California Legislature would ban the manufacture and sale of junk guns within the state. Modeled after federal legislation that I introduced, the bill would require all handguns to meet the common-sense quality and safety standards currently required of imported firearms. The logic of the bill is unassailable: If a gun is so unsafe that we do not allow it into our country, then its domestic manufacture should also be prohibited.

Should our governor do the right thing by signing this bill, it will not only make Californians safer, but it will provide an important boost to the national movement to get junk guns off our streets. I would be proud to inform my colleagues in the Senate that California is leading the way on common-sense gun laws.