Ban on Cheap Handguns Upheld

SAN FRANCISCO —  The state Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a National Rifle Assn. challenge to the power of California cities to ban the sale of the cheap handguns known as Saturday night specials.

The court unanimously, and without comment, denied review of an appellate ruling upholding such a ban in West Hollywood. The action does not amount to a ruling by the high court, but it makes the lower court ruling binding on trial courts that would consider challenges to any of the local ordinances.

“It will mean that cities may take direct action to reduce gun violence,” said Luis Tolley, regional director of Handgun Control Inc. He predicted that many cities would ban Saturday night specials and that others would adopt new measures such as a limit of one handgun sale to a customer per month.

Tolley said about 40 cities and counties have laws like the 1996 ordinance in West Hollywood, the first of its kind in the state. The ordinance bans sales of specific models of guns by dealers within city limits but does not prohibit possession of the guns.

Gun control advocates have focused on the cheap handguns, saying they are unsafe, offer little protection to law-abiding residents and are commonly used in street crimes.

A bill that would have outlawed those guns statewide was vetoed in September by Gov. Pete Wilson, who said it “threatens to unreasonably limit the right of law-abiding citizens to obtain previously lawful firearms.”

Tolley said he was optimistic that the bill would win approval from next year’s Legislature and gain the signature of Gov.-elect Gray Davis, who has endorsed the proposal. Massachusetts and Maryland have similar laws, Tolley said.

Last year, another appellate court upheld local governments’ authority to require a trigger lock on each gun sold. Wilson vetoed a bill to impose the requirement statewide.

Chuck Michel, a lawyer for the NRA and the California Rifle and Pistol Assn., could not be reached for comment.

The lawsuit contended that gun sales were exclusively regulated by the state and could not be restricted by a city or county. California Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren also took that position.

But the 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled Sept. 29--a day after Wilson’s veto of the statewide measure--that the West Hollywood ordinance was within the power of local governments to regulate businesses and protect their residents.

The court said state law prohibits cities and counties from setting their own registration or licensing requirements for guns, but does not forbid local regulation of gun sales.