Local, State Action to Control Firearms Urged

Speakers at a forum on gun control Sunday called for local and state action against firearms before Orange County becomes an island of weaponry amid municipalities that have passed limits on guns.

“We are going to be ringed,” Charlie Blek told a gathering of about 20 people at Shepherd of the Hills United Methodist Church. “We are suffering from Orange County denial--none of us are immune.”

So far, Blek said, 29 California cities have adopted ordinances curtailing the sale and manufacture of guns, especially so-called Saturday night specials, made of inexpensive metal alloys with short barrels and retailing for as little as $50. Among the cities with such ordinances, he said, are Los Angeles, Compton, Santa Monica, West Covina and West Hollywood. San Diego is considering a similar ban.

“If junk guns can’t be sold anywhere else,” Blek said, “guess where all the gun manufacturers are going to come? If your life is touched by gun violence, it is changed forever.”

The Mission Viejo resident’s own life was changed dramatically three years ago when his 21-year-old son, Matthew, was shot to death with a Saturday night special on the streets of New York City while being robbed by three teenage boys. As a result, Blek and his wife, Mary, founded a group called Orange County Citizens for the Prevention of Gun Violence. Since 1994, he said, they have traveled up and down the state arguing for restrictions on the sale and manufacturer of guns like the one that killed their son.

“The three 15-year-olds who shot our son didn’t have to steal the gun, they bought it on a street corner,” Blek told his audience Sunday. “The way to eliminate these guns is to eliminate their manufacture. Our silence is our consent.”

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But while people statewide have reacted favorably to that message, Blek said, lawmakers in Orange County have been slow to act.

Recently, Lake Forest became the county’s first city to consider a local ordinance regulating the sale of Saturday night specials within city limits. After some discussion, however, city officials decided to shelve the ordinance long enough to see how the Legislature acts on the matter.

State legislators from Orange County, Blek said, are generally opposed to the seven bills currently before them that would ban or restrict Saturday night specials, most notably AB 488, set for consideration by the Assembly on May 29.

Sunday’s forum was organized by a man whose own life was touched by violence 18 years ago when his brother-in-law was shot to death by robbers in the parking lot of a Los Vegas casino. “It completely shattered the family,” said Patrick Birkett, who said he recently heard Blek speak at another meeting and wanted to help spread his message.

Other speakers at the forum included a representative of the church, an educator and an emergency room physician.

“Guns don’t grow on trees,” said Dr. Scott Weissman, a physician at UCI Medical Center who has treated patients with gunshot wounds. “They are manufactured by companies that make profits . . . and the things that are good for business are not necessarily good for the public at large. This is something the public health community is very concerned about.”