Shot Down

San Francisco bars handguns

Could this be the year when the gun-control tide finally began to turn? First peaceful Morton Grove, Ill, enacted a ban on handguns, then Chicago passed a handgun freeze prohibiting new registrations. Last week San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein signed an ordinance making it illegal to carry or even keep a handgun at home. Handgun owners (the military and armored-vehicle drivers, among others, are exempted) have until the end of October to either get their weapons out of the city or store them permanently at a licensed shooting range. The maximum sentence: six months in jail.

Local gun enthusiasts plan to challenge the constitutionality of the law, and the district attorney says he will not prosecute until that question is settled. Even then, vigorous enforcement is unlikely. Says San Francisco Police Inspector John Hennessey: "The department obviously doesn't plan on kicking in people's doors and searching their homes."

Opponents say the law will penalize law-abiding citizens trying to protect themselves. But City Supervisor Richard Hongisto points out that handguns were used in self-defense only four times in 1981. The numbers on the other side are more persuasive: more than half of the city's 126 homicides were by handguns.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.