Los Angeles Moving Toward Partial Gun Control

City Turns Thumbs Down on 'Large Caliber' Guns

Los Angeles is moving toward a citywide ban on the sale of .50-caliber rifles and pistols, and the plan has the backing of the Los Angeles Police Commission and police chief, the Los Angeles Daily News reported.

May 28, 2003
By Mariel Garza, Staff Writer

The Los Angeles Police Commission and Police Chief William Bratton on Tuesday lent their support to a citywide ban on the sale of "large caliber" firearms, saying it's a move to make the city safer.

The proposed ordinance would bar anyone from selling or transferring .50-caliber rifles, sometimes called sniper rifles, and .50-caliber handguns, which can pierce body armor and hit targets from as much as a mile away.

"The large-caliber firearms have much more dangerous effects on the private property of citizens," said Saul Romo, a policy analyst for the commission.

"We don't want them in the city of Los Angeles," Romo said. "We don't want access to them in the city of Los Angeles."

Before the proposed ban can become law, it is subject to approval of the City Council and Mayor James Hahn.

The draft ordinance stemmed from a proposal in September from then-Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, who has since moved on to the state Assembly, to ban the .50-caliber Browning machine gun.

Pending legislation could prohibit sale of the large-caliber rifles statewide.

The council directed the city attorney to draft such an ordinance. Since then, a .50-caliber handgun from gun maker Smith & Wesson became available for sale, and it was included in the ordinance.

The ordinance does not restrict possession of those weapons in Los Angeles because the city lacks the power to do that. Sale of the weapons could continue in nearby cities, officials say.

To that extent, the policy is somewhat symbolic, said Police Commission President Rick Caruso, although officials hope it will keep some of those guns out of the city.

Bratton agreed that the action was a move toward public safety against weapons that "reinforce the insanity of the gun manufacturers to make guns that have no purpose or use other than perpetuating violence."

John Burtt, chairman of the national group Fifty Caliber Shooters Association Policy Institute, said the ban will not make Angelenos safer, only hurt the handful of businesses that sell them to shooting-sports enthusiasts who have used them for decades.

"The ordinance has nothing to do with crime prevention," Burtt said, noting that the high-powered weapons targeted by the ban have never been used in a criminal incident in the state.

"It has nothing to do with terrorist acts," Burtt said. "Terrorist acts will not be prevented. The only people directly affected are law-abiding people in the city of Los Angeles."

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