Most Area Congressmen Follow Party on Brady Bill

WASHINGTON — Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) voted for the so-called Brady gun-control bill Wednesday, but did so only after supporting an unsuccessful competing measure that critics said would cripple gun-control efforts.

Gallegly said he was not trying to placate both the numerous gun advocates and the many law enforcement officers in his district by voting for both measures. “Traditionally, whenever you vote yes on two different things, typically you don’t make anybody happy, but you make everybody mad from a political standpoint,” Gallegly said.

Other San Fernando Valley-area congressmen divided along party lines over the measures--with the exception of Rep. William M. Thomas (R-Bakersfield), who also voted for both. Democrats voted for the Brady bill, while other Republicans backed only the competing measure, supported by the National Rifle Assn.

The House voted 239 to 186 to approve the Brady bill, which would impose a seven-day waiting period for handgun purchasers. The vote came shortly after the defeat of an alternative amendment that would have required instant electronic background checks, a proposal opponents said would take years to make a reality. The outcome was a major setback for the NRA.

The votes followed four hours of emotional debate and culminated weeks of intense lobbying by both sides of the gun issue, including law enforcement agencies supporting the Brady bill. The measure faces an uncertain future in the Senate and President Bush has vowed to veto it unless it becomes part of his anti-crime package.

Republican Reps. Carlos J. Moorhead of Glendale and Jerry Lewis of Highland voted for the point-of-purchase background checks sponsored by Rep. Harley O. Staggers Jr. (D-W.Va.) and against the Brady bill, named for James S. Brady, the former press secretary for President Ronald Reagan who was severely wounded in a 1981 assassination attempt on Reagan.

Before the votes, the House ruled that passage of the NRA-backed Staggers amendment would foreclose a vote on the Brady proposal--prompting gun-control advocates to label it “a killer amendment.” The measure’s opponents said it would take several years to establish the computer network needed for instant checks of prospective buyers’ criminal records or mental illness--even though the bill called for the network to be in place within six months.

Gallegly, who voted for the Brady bill in 1988, said he supported the Staggers measure because it called for a mandatory check while the Brady bill only gives local law enforcement agencies the authority to do one. He said he favored approving both measures because the Brady proposal would have applied pressure to set up the computer system to do the instant checks.

“By supporting Staggers, I don’t see how anybody can argue that it weakens our ability to keep handguns out of the hands of criminals. . . . There is not going to be a cure-all. The best way to deal with this issue is tough crime bills that have been gutted by the liberals.”

Thomas, whose district includes much of the Antelope Valley, said that he would have preferred to see a gun-control measure included in a comprehensive violent crime package. He explained that he backed the Staggers measure because it would eventually complement the California law that already requires a 15-day waiting period for handgun purchasers. Subsequently, after the instant-check measure lost, Thomas said he voted for the Brady bill as better than nothing at all.

“There was a whole lot more symbolism at stake than substance,” Thomas said, noting the Brady bill’s uncertain prospects in the Senate and White House. “Both sides oversold their product.”

On the Democratic side, Reps. Anthony C. Beilenson of Los Angeles, Howard L. Berman of Panorama City and Henry A. Waxman of Los Angeles opposed the instant checks and backed the Brady bill.