SACRAMENTO — In the six months before the biggest barrage of anti-gun legislation ever in California, sales of rifles--including assault weapons--jumped at least 50%, Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer said Tuesday.
Sales of handguns also rose between January and June this year, by a more modest 17%.
Overall, sales of handguns and long guns--a category that covers shotguns and rifles, some of which are military-style assault weapons--rose almost 31%.
In the legislative session just completed, state lawmakers approved and Gov. Gray Davis signed a half-dozen major gun control measures, including one that Davis called the nation's most sweeping assault weapons ban.
Davis also signed legislation regulating the sale of cheap handguns, and limiting gun buyers to one gun a month.
Several experts say the phenomenon of gun sales increasing as government acts to limit sales has occurred in the past. Long gun sales increased during the mid-1990s, when Congress approved limits on assault weapons.
"The governor should be Man of the Year for the firearms manufacturers' association," said National Rifle Assn. lobbyist Steve Helsley.
In the Los Angeles area, gun dealers attributed the brisk sales of all guns, especially long guns, to the Legislature's actions.
"I almost think the politicians own stock in gun companies," said a spokesman for King Gun Works in Glendale. "Any time the Legislature comes up with a proposal to ban something, we get an increase."
"Assume that's true," said state Sen. Don Perata (D-Alameda), who carried the assault weapons legislation (SB 23). "The alternative would be what? We don't do anything. Then the gun lobby would have the ultimate control over our destiny."
Perata's measure, which takes effect Jan. 1, bans the sale of certain semiautomatic weapons based on a generic description of the guns, and it prohibits the sale of semiautomatic weapons that hold more than 10 bullets. Owners of existing weapons fitting the definition must register them with law enforcement after Jan. 1.
Perata said there could be other reasons for the increase, including a fear of computer crashes and other chaos associated with the year 2000.
"People should not underestimate the gun lobby and their ability to convince a small constituency to arm up," Perata said. "They're promoting fear and dread. That's very potent."
