L.A. Panel Hopes to Require Guns That Can Be Fired Only by Owners

After putting their steely subjects to the test at a police firing range, a Los Angeles panel studying handgun control is prepared to recommend new restrictions on gun sales aimed at keeping weapons away from criminals and children.

The Los Angeles Handgun Task Force, a 12-member panel created by the City Council last year, is drafting standards for handguns that can be fired only by their authorized users--an ambitious effort that backers hope will usher in a new generation of gun safety.

In a recent display at the LAPD’s Granada Hills range, task force Chairman Daniel Hinerfeld demonstrated some of the novel safety features he hopes will save lives. Wearing a pinstriped suit, his fingers bare, he leveled a Smith & Wesson .357 magnum revolver and tried to shoot. Nothing happened.

“I do not have the ring on!” he hollered. In a flash, he slipped a silvery ring over his middle finger and grabbed the gun. The weapon sprang to life, firing six rounds in a blaze of noise and smoke.

Task force members have squeezed off 300 rounds at a time through guns like the one Hinerfeld tested--a converted weapon that won’t fire unless the user is wearing a magnetic ring. The group, which includes representatives of the Los Angeles Police Department, the city attorney’s office, and gun control organizations, also tried several guns that require a key to operate and a 9-millimeter pistol featuring a grip release that must be pulled before the gun will shoot.

The goal, Hinerfeld said, is to devise a law that will eventually require all handguns sold in Los Angeles to be “personalized.” A gun that cannot recognize the person pulling the trigger as its rightful owner--perhaps by scanning fingerprints--would not fire.

Chuck Michel, a Los Angeles attorney who represents the National Rifle Assn., said the NRA would oppose any “one-size-fits-all” measure that mandates internal locks or personalization features on handguns.

“There are a myriad of issues concerning the practical application of some of this technology that can, in many cases, make firearms less safe rather than more safe,” Michel said. “It’s one more thing to do wrong when you’re standing there defending your life. You don’t want one more bell and whistle that can break.”

No fingerprint-recognition guns have yet reached the retail market, but task force members are studying other safety features that they hope will help prevent accidental shootings, teen suicides and the hundreds of homicides the city records each year. About 70% of the killings were committed with guns, said LAPD Officer Jason Lee.

Hinerfeld, an aide to Councilman Mike Feuer, said the task force will probably advocate a phased approach, perhaps first requiring that all handguns sold here be fitted with internal locks.

California law already requires that guns be sold with child safety locks by 2002, but gun control advocates argue that trigger locks and other external devices can be easily removed and discarded.

The next phase may require “smart guns” that include some type of safeguard to prevent anyone but the authorized user from firing them--such as a magnetic ring or a keypad code built into the gun. The ultimate goal: fully personalized weapons that actually recognize their users, Hinerfeld said.

At stake are thousands of guns sold by Los Angeles dealers each year. In 2000, about 11,600 handguns were sold citywide, according to Department of Justice records.

“There is no reason, with advancing technology, why a gun should be sold in Los Angeles that can be fired by someone other than the authorized user,” said Feuer, who plans to introduce his proposal in April. “Guns shouldn’t be in the hands of criminals or kids.”

Michel suggested that Feuer, a candidate for city attorney, is pushing hard on a series of gun control measures because he wants to attract attention to his campaign.

Last week the Police Commission approved a Feuer proposal that would ban the sale of so-called “pocket rockets”--compact handguns favored by criminals because they are easy to conceal.

Other firearms controls advocated by Feuer, including annual background checks for ammunition buyers and fingerprinting of gun buyers, are also under city consideration.

“Why are they all coming to a head now?” Michel asked. “Could it be because there’s an election in a month?”

Feuer denied that his push for tougher gun controls was a campaign gimmick, saying he has long advocated such measures.

Four years ago, he helped found a working group to create regional gun control policies and has since written much of the city’s gun-related legislation. Feuer first proposed background checks for ammunition buyers in 1997.

Los Angeles residents live under some of the nation’s toughest gun controls. In recent years, California has limited handgun purchases to one a month, mandated trigger locks and banned the sale of assault weapons and cheap guns known as Saturday night specials.

The one-gun-per-month law originated in Los Angeles (another Feuer measure), and many other restrictions were adopted by the city before winning statewide approval.

The personalized gun proposal is likely to get a sympathetic hearing before the council’s Public Safety Committee. Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, who heads that committee, said she would strongly support the measure and expects the full council to back it as well.

“For all the various proposals that are out there, I can’t think of one that would be more effective to reduce the incidence of gun violence,” Miscikowski said.

“We just really have to make sure guns don’t get into the hand of people who aren’t supposed to have them. It is something I would give the highest importance to.”