Senate OKs Assault Gun Ban but It Hits New Snag

SACRAMENTO —  Under an 11th-hour agreement reached with Gov. George Deukmejian, the state Senate on Thursday voted final passage of legislation banning military-style assault weapons in California.

The Republican governor, however, made it clear that he will not sign the bill by Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) until he also has on his desk a supplemental measure containing the newly struck compromise.

And the supplemental bill is snagged in the Assembly where Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) on Thursday reiterated his concern that the compromise weakens proposed penalties for illegal possession of such popular assault rifles as the Uzi, AR-15 and AK-47.

Conceivably, if the governor stands fast and the Assembly refuses to send him the second bill containing the compromise, California can wind up with no assault gun ban, despite an enormous effort to enact one.

The agreement on the Roberti bill was endorsed Thursday morning by Deukmejian, Roberti and Assemblyman Mike Roos (D-Los Angeles), author of the Assembly bill that would carry the compromise provision, two weeks after the governor unexpectedly held up final passage of the Senate bill and asked for time to study it and offer Weaamendments. After the agreement was reached, the Roberti bill was sent to the governor on a bipartisan 29-8 vote.

Essentially, the Roberti and Roos bills, which have drawn national attention, outlaw the importation, manufacture, sale and transfer of about 60 military-style semiautomatic assault rifles, pistols and shotguns, effective next Jan. 1.

For owners of such guns who want to keep them, a registration system is established. Any assault arm legally obtained by June 1 can be registered with the state Department of Justice.

Deukmejian had objected primarily to a provision of the legislation that makes it either a misdemeanor or a felony to fail to register a previously purchased assault gun by Jan. 1, 1991. He said such a penalty is “too severe” to impose on an otherwise law-abiding gun owner. And he pressed for making it a minor infraction subject to a fine, much like the penalty for a traffic ticket.

Legislative and gubernatorial staff members negotiated a compromise that the governor agreed to in a phone call to Roberti. Under the compromise, a first-time offender who fails to register will be charged with a “major infraction” and fined at least $350 if the owner is arrested at a site where possession of a registered gun is legal. These locations include the owner’s home, business or at an approved firing range.

A second offense under the same circumstances will be subject to punishment as a misdemeanor or felony. It will be a felony to have an unregistered assault weapon anywhere else, such as on the streets.

Voices Objection

Deukmejian also had voiced objection to provisions of the legislation aimed at also restricting facsimiles of the assault weapons. He wanted the weapons to be restricted specifically listed in the bill. But law enforcement officers said there are possibly hundreds of such guns under many different brands and to list them all would be impossible.

Under the compromise, a Superior Court judge can add copycat guns to the banned list if the state attorney general can prove that they are assault weapons.

Deukmejian, a long-time opponent of imposing new controls on guns, but who in January denounced assault weapons, declared himself “pleased” with the agreement and said it provides clarity and “more certainty.”

“The compromise, I think, is reasonable,” Roberti told the Senate.

Citing the “astounding” opposition of the National Rifle Assn. and other gun owner groups, Roberti called on the Senate to demonstrate that “we can overcome the special interests and do what the public demands.”

“Only an aroused public demanding that the Legislature protect the public safety has put us in the position of being able to pass a bill and get it on the governor’s desk,” he said.

Dash of Sweetness

For Roberti, sending the bill to Deukmejian provided an extra dash of sweetness to his 50th birthday celebration. Shortly before passage, Roberti was serenaded by a mariachi band in the Senate chamber.

But in the Assembly, Brown cast gloom over the compromise reached with Deukmejian by Roberti and Roos, one of his top lieutenants. The Speaker reiterated his opposition, first voiced Tuesday, to “anything that weakens the bill.”

Brown said he intends to thoroughly study the measure to determine if his fears are well founded, and told reporters he sees no need to hurry a bill to Deukmejian. He added that since Deukmejian sought the changes worked out with Roos and Roberti, “the governor ought to make the case with the public for acceptance of these changes.”

A usually cheerful Roos, now glum as he listened to Brown, insisted that the compromise reached with Deukmejian “is not a weakening of the bill.” But Roos acknowledged that he faced a hard-sell when he spelled out details of the compromise to fellow Assembly Democrats during a private meeting on Thursday morning.

Roos told reporters he must start from “Square No. 1” and “re-educate” and persuade Assembly backers of the bill to continue supporting it.

A Deukmejian spokesman, Tom Beerman, said it is “the governor’s position that the legislation has not been weakened.”

No Votes to Spare

Although both the Roos and Roberti bills passed the Assembly earlier, it was with no votes to spare. The Assembly is considered especially sensitive to NRA lobbying and only two Republicans joined Democrats in voting for the Roos and Roberti bills.

Sponsors of the bills earlier had rated Assembly approval of the measures at only 50-50. No one improved the odds Thursday on the chances that Roos’ bill containing the compromise will fare any better with Brown voicing concerns about it.

Deukmejian has said he wants both the main Roberti bill and the supplemental Roos measure containing the compromise on his desk before he signs either one. If he were to sign the Roberti bill, there would be no guarantee that the Roos bill would reach him. Thus, he would have signed into law a bill he did not entirely endorse.

Deukmejian has 12 days to sign the Roberti bill after it officially reaches him. However, he and the two legislative authors agreed that if the Assembly does not send him the compromise within the 12 days, the Senate can recall the Roberti bill.

This would stop the clock and provide additional time for the Assembly to pass the supplemental bill.

“It is going to be interesting to see what kind of deals are going to be cut now to get the damned bill out of the Assembly,” said one senior Senate aide.

Several Los Angeles-area neighborhood groups strongly backing the assault gun ban issued a statement calling on Brown “not to block this historic piece of legislation.”

“Speaker Brown, the people of California will never understand taking defeat out of the jaws of victory,” said the statement by the United Neighborhoods Organization, East Valley Organization, South Central Organizing Committee and Valleys Organized in Community Effort.

Here is the roll call by which the Senate sent to the governor the Roberti assault gun ban bill:

Democrats for (23)--Alquist, Ayala, Boatwright, Deddeh, Dills, Garamendi, C. Green, B. Greene, L. Greene, Hart, Keene, Lockyer, Marks, McCorquodale, Mello, Montoya, Petris, Presley, Roberti, Rosenthal, Torres, Vuich, Watson.

Republicans for (5)--Bergeson, Beverly, Craven, Morgan, Seymour.

Independent for (1)--Kopp.

Democrats against (0)--None.

Republicans against (8)--Campbell, Davis, Doolittle, Leonard, Nielsen, Rogers, Royce, Stirling.

Absent or not voting (3)--Maddy (R-Fresno), Robbins (D-Tarzana), Russell (R-Glendale).