An Inch at a Time
In the L.A. City Council, another assault on the Second Amendment.

Mr. Dunphy* is an officer of the Los Angeles Police Department
March 27, 2001 9:05 a.m.

ast Wednesday, the LAPD headquarters building was the backdrop for the sort of dog-and-pony show-cum-press conference that could only have been orchestrated by someone running for office. L.A. city councilman Mike Feuer, a candidate for city attorney in the April 10 municipal primary, is trying to raise his profile by introducing legislation that would ban the sale of so-called "ultra-compact" weapons within the Los Angeles city limits. The law would ban the sale of handguns that are 6 3/4 inches long or less and 4 1/2 inches high or less. Arrayed for the cameras in front of Parker Center were dozens of these diminutive guns, hastily provided from the LAPD evidence room by Chief Bernard Parks, who attended the press conference and lent his image to the silliness. (Chief Parks has long been an advocate of gun control, proving that he is more politician than policeman. While appearing as a guest on Larry Elder's radio program last year, he very publicly embarrassed himself by admitting that he had never heard of Yale's John Lott, the author of More Guns, Less Crime and one of the leading researchers on criminology in the country.)

As Mr. Feuer and Chief Parks surely know, the practical effect of this proposed law would be nil, for anyone seeking to purchase a small handgun would only need go to a gun store in Santa Monica or Redondo Beach or any other city in Southern California where the lawmakers have more sense. The only real impact of the ordinance would be to deny customers to the legitimate gun dealers doing business and paying taxes in Los Angeles. But the aftermath of a school shooting or two is of course no time for rational discussion, especially when there is an election on the line. No one likes to see anyone shoot up a schoolyard, but, hey, if it's going to happen, why not use the occasion to get some face time while standing before all those evil little guns that will be banned! banned! banned! if the voters would only have the good sense to elevate you to higher office.

Councilwoman Rita Walters cited last week's school shooting in Santee, California in justifying her vote for the ordinance. "It's another step in the fight for gun control in our gun-crazed society," she told the Los Angeles Times. That the .22 revolver used in the Santee shooting would not have been covered under the proposed law did not seem to concern her.

The state of California has already enacted an "assault-weapons ban," outlawing certain weapons for no other reason than being big and scary-looking, and now Los Angeles is seeking to ban some handguns for being, well, small and scary-looking. "These concealable, compact weapons are the weapons of choice for criminals," said Councilman Feuer, who speaks with the forced earnestness of a man delivering the eulogy at a stranger's funeral. In an apparent effort to affect the argot of the street, he calls these small guns "pocket rockets." (I don't know where he picked up the term, but I haven't heard it used even once in twenty years of police work.) If this law is enacted, I suppose it won't be long before the dimensions of the proscribed weapons are expanded, inch by inch, until virtually all handguns are outlawed and all gun dealers in L.A. shut their doors for good.

Many years ago I had occasion to meet an elderly widow who was only too lucky to have had at the ready a small, compact handgun of the type Mr. Feuer seeks to ban. She was at home alone in the middle of the day when a burglar broke in and menaced her with a knife. Had she not been armed, she very likely would have been counted among the more than 1,000 homicide victims in Los Angeles that year. She was getting on in years but she was keen of eye and steady of hand when her moment came, and she used her small pistol with its intended effect, hitting the burglar with three out of five shots. Few cops would have done any better.

At most crime scenes a police officer can do little more than take a report and ask, "Which way did he go and what did he look like?" So I confess to a certain morbid satisfaction in reporting that when I arrived and asked the widow these questions, she very calmly replied, "Go see for yourself, Officer. He's lying there bleeding all over my back porch."

(*Jack Dunphy is the author's nom de cyber. The opinions expressed are his own and almost certainly do not reflect those of the LAPD management .)