California, semiautomatics still don’t mix

Alicia Robinson

A federal ban on assault weapons expired at midnight Sunday, but

don’t expect to see local gun enthusiasts rushing out to the Grant

Boys to pick up the formerly banned semiautomatic firearms. They’re

still illegal in California.

The change in federal law will have little to no effect here, but

it still raised the curiosity of potential gun buyers.

“Our phones have been ringing off the hook, especially last week,

with people with questions,” said Jack Carver, vice president of the

Grant Boys, a Costa Mesa sporting goods store that carries a variety

of guns as well as fishing and camping gear.

The callers’ questions are in vain. California’s assault weapons

law, in effect since 1989, bans more weapons than the expiring

federal law did, said Hallye Jordan, spokeswoman for state Atty. Gen.

Bill Lockyer.

Under the federal law, it was illegal to possess or sell

semiautomatic weapons with detachable magazines that also have at

least two of several characteristics common to military weapons, such

as a pistol grip, a flash suppressor, or a folding or collapsible

stock.

Semiautomatic weapons in California with even one of those

characteristics are banned. It’s also illegal to bring those banned

weapons into California from out of state.

To some gun-rights supporters, the federal ban didn’t have much

practical effect.

When assault weapons with certain characteristics were outlawed,

the firearms industry immediately began making the same guns without

them, said Mitch Barrie, a proprietor of Mesa Tactical, a Costa Mesa

company that develops gun accessories that allow users to attach

sights and lights or change the stocks on shotguns.

“These are cosmetic features we’re talking about,” Barrie said.

“It didn’t actually affect much, because it was easy to manufacture

those same rifles without those features.”

His business won’t be affected by the expiration of the federal

ban, because he sells accessories for pump shotguns, not

semiautomatic weapons, he said.

Gun-control laws are sometimes proposed to score political points

and are supported because they sound good, 70th District Assemblyman

John Campbell said.

Under California law, one weapon that meets the ban qualifications

and is thus illegal is a gun designed in the 1850s that is used by

history buffs like those who reenact Civil War skirmishes, Campbell

said.

“That’s ridiculous,” he said. “These are vintage weapons that had

become obsolete by the 1870s, not to mention today. I think sometimes

these [laws] don’t accomplish what they should.”

Assault-weapon bans aren’t very effective in stopping gun crimes

because plenty of other guns are available, said Dave Sapeiro, a San

Clemente resident who was shopping at the Grant Boys on Monday.

“[California’s laws] are pretty strict,” he said. “It makes it

harder on people that just want to go hunting.”

But the law enforcement community would have preferred that the

federal ban stay in place.

The end of the federal ban means assault weapons are more

accessible, and they could also be stolen in states where they’re now

legal and end up here, Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Bob Ciszek said.

Naysayers charge that the ban only affects law-abiding people

because criminals will get the weapons they want and use them

regardless of legal restrictions, but Newport Beach Police Lt. John

Klein disagreed.

“I think there’s a direct relation between how many of the weapons

are available and how many of them are used for criminal

enterprises,” he said. “We certainly hope measures are taken to

re-enact the [federal] ban on assault weapons, for the safety of the

community and for the safety of the officers that are out on the

streets all the time.”

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

alicia.robinson@latimes.com.