Bush Opposes Federal Ban on Assault Rifles : Would Leave Any Restrictions Up to the States; Strong Stand Dismays Gun Control Advocates

President Bush, bucking pressure from law enforcement organizations that backed him during his campaign and setting up a potential fire fight in Congress, said Thursday that he would “strongly oppose” a federal ban on the sale of semiautomatic weapons like the AK-47 assault rifle recently used in the Stockton, Calif., school shooting.

Although he expressed some confusion over the kind of weapon now at the center of a renewed national argument over gun control, Bush stood firmly behind his opposition to federal government action to cut back the supply of semiautomatic firearms. The weapons, police say, have become the tool of choice among drug dealers and gang members across the nation.

“I think the answer is the criminal--do more with the criminal,” Bush, a lifetime member of the National Rifle Assn., told reporters in a brief Oval Office interview, a transcript of which was made available later.

” . . . Look, the states have a lot of laws on these things. Let them enforce them. It’s hard, very hard to do. But that’s my position, and I’m not going to change it.”

Furor Over Stockton Shooting

Bush made his comments amid a mounting furor over the Stockton shooting and a rash of attacks on policemen and civilians nationwide. The incidents have combined to set off the most formidable grass-roots surge for new gun controls in years.

Proponents of a ban on the sale of semiautomatic assault rifles have massed behind dozens of local and state proposals and a Senate bill aimed at cracking down on the weapons.

Gun control activists expressed dismay at Bush’s statements and vowed a vigorous fight for the federal ban.

“I’m disappointed,” said Sarah Brady, the wife of former White House Press Secretary James S. Brady and a gun control advocate since her husband was shot in the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.

“Public opinion is ready for this. It is something that has to be done, and it will be done this year.”

Bush’s comments put him in a thicket of political trouble also.

Police organizations that backed him during his campaign have urged new controls on assault weapons; Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates, a top Bush ally, castigated fellow conservatives in a congressional hearing last week for blocking such action; and the First Lady, Barbara Bush, said in an interview earlier this month that she “absolutely” believes that guns like the AK-47 should be banned.

The NRA, long one of Washington’s most powerful lobbies, is working to blunt the campaign, arguing that it would infringe on the rights of gun collectors and sportsmen. However, NRA officers could not be reached for comment on Bush’s statement.

In his remarks, the President mistakenly referred to the AK-47 used by Patrick Edward Purdy when he opened fire in a Stockton schoolyard last month, killing five children and wounding 29, as an “automatic” rifle and at first said that federal laws cover its sale.

Before he was corrected, Bush said that he opposes the sale of “fully automatic AK-47s.” When told that the weapon was in fact semiautomatic, Bush asked: “What do you mean by semi?

“Look, if you’re suggesting that every pistol that can do that (fire semiautomatically) or every rifle should be banned, I would strongly oppose that,” Bush added. “I would strongly go after the criminals who use these guns.”

Automatic weapons allow the shooter to fire many rounds in succession by keeping the trigger depressed. Semiautomatic weapons can fire multiple rounds without being manually cocked, but the trigger must be pulled each time.

Although machine guns and other automatic weapons are tightly restricted, AK-47s and other semiautomatic models may be purchased much like handguns. Purchasers are simply required to present identification and attest that they are not felons, illegal aliens or mentally unstable.

Legislation sponsored by Sen. Howard M. Metzenbaum (D-Ohio) would put the guns under the same strictures as fully automatic weapons like machine guns. Federal law now bans the sale of new machine guns and requires rigorous background checks for those seeking to buy used guns.

A more restrictive bill has been introduced by Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) that would forbid possession of semiautomatic rifles, but it has attracted less support.

In Washington, gun control supporters said Thursday that they plan to mount an effort to change Bush’s mind and counteract the NRA’s lobbying effort. The campaign is to include appeals to Bush from prominent law enforcement officials who campaigned for him.

Gun Foes Slow to React

High-ranking gun control advocates have met three times in the last two weeks to plan strategy for the lobbying effort, catching up after what they admit was a slow reaction on the issue fed by their unwillingness to cross Bush so early in his term.

Although NRA officers have met with the Bush Administration to press their case, gun control activists have yet to contact the President’s advisers.

Brady, the best-known of the assault weapon foes, said that she wrote Bush a letter Wednesday outlining her position and hopes to press the case further.

“He has always been an extremely reasonable person,” she said. “Perhaps he will reconsider.”