Van de Kamp Asks Police Chiefs for Support in Outlawing Assault Rifles

State Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp, speaking to a statewide group of police chiefs in Costa Mesa, appealed Wednesday for their support for a proposed state law banning military-style assault firearms.

Van de Kamp warned that “if law enforcement doesn’t speak with one voice, we are likely to end up licking our wounds while the NRA (National Rifle Assn.) chortles over yet another victory.”

“Do it in memory of the five youngsters in Stockton,” said Van de Kamp, referring to the children killed by a gunman with an assault rifle last month. “Do it out of respect for your own colleagues whose lives have already been cut short by these weapons.”

The executive board of the statewide group, the California Police Chiefs Assn., voted Monday to support the proposed legislation. However, West Covina Police Chief Craig L. Meacham, the group’s president, said: “We would like to see it more restrictive (tougher).”

Vote Expected Today

Meacham said Wednesday that to emphasize the association’s support of the bills, he would ask the general membership to vote this morning.

The association is holding its annual conference at the Westin South Coast Plaza hotel through Saturday.

Van de Kamp told police chiefs that work on such a bill was already under way when the Stockton killings occurred. “That brutal crime transformed the situation,” Van de Kamp said.

Identical bills were submitted in the Assembly and Senate by Assemblyman Michael Roos (D-Los Angeles) and Sen. David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles).

The legislation would ban private sales and possession of assault weapons, defined as all semiautomatic, center-fire rifles and pistols that will accept detachable magazines holding 20 rounds or more. Also included in the definition are shotguns with barrels shorter than 19 inches and equipped with folding stocks, shotguns that have magazines holding more than six rounds and assault rifles modified into pistols.

Semiautomatic weapons produced before 1954, such as the popular M-1 rifle from World War II, would be exempt from the regulations, Van de Kamp said. A commission composed mainly of law-enforcement officials would be formed to grant other exemptions in specific cases, he said.

“Banning assault weapons is a much more doable task today than it was just a few weeks ago. And I will tell you quite frankly that we adjusted our sights upward since that tragedy,” Van de Kamp said. He noted that Gov. George Deukmejian and former President Ronald Reagan have spoken in favor of banning assault weapons and that city councils in Stockton and Los Angeles have passed ordinances prohibiting the weapons.

Van de Kamp noted in his speech that some chiefs did not think the bill is strict enough. He urged them to support the bill anyway as the strongest bill that can be expected to pass. “Strategically, this is the bill at the key moment in the long history of this issue. And it is likely to be a brief moment of opportunity,” he said. Amendments to toughen regulations could come later, he said.

He urged chiefs not to assume that the bills will pass easily. Despite outrage over the killings in Stockton, “relatively few legislators have changed their basic positions on this issue.”

San Ysidro Killings Cited

He pointed out that in 1984, after a gunman killed 21 people at a McDonald’s restaurant in San Ysidro using semiautomatic assault weapons, similar anti-gun bills were introduced. “But the outcry came and went. The legislation failed,” he said.

“We cannot afford the luxury of complacency. Your voice is needed to add strength and unity to law enforcement’s call for reform in this area,” Van de Kamp said.

“It can win, but the margin of victory will be narrow at best,” he said. Past defeats have resulted from debate deteriorating “into a pitched battle between those who would ban all guns and those who would regulate none of them,” he said.

This time, Van de Kamp said, the debate should be limited to law enforcement issues. He said there are many members of the NRA, among them police officers, who do not agree with the association’s consistent opposition to all forms of gun control.

“We began this effort several months ago in hopes of recasting the old debate in a new light. We wanted to approach it as a consensus law enforcement issue. We still intend to do so. That’s why your support is so important.”

Rep. Robert K. Dornan (D-Garden Grove) spoke to the police chiefs during the lunch session Wednesday, saying that the risk and complexity of police work has increased greatly in the past year almost entirely because of drug traffic and use.

He said a brief memorial service had been held at the conference Wednesday morning for officers who had been killed on duty in California last year--23 deaths in all. “Who knows how many of those deaths are attributable to people stoned on some form of pills--legal, illegal--booze mixed with psychotropic drugs, PCP, plain old grass, cocaine, crack, whatever?” he said.

Referring to George Bush and Ronald Reagan, Dornan said: “There’s no doubt in my mind with this new, great President following another great President that we can turn this thing around and get back to a manageable level of sanity.”