Illegal-Gun Buyback Slow Going / Only 250 rifles turned in despite budget for 5,600

Maryann Duncan held an SKS Sporter assault rifle -- the type residents can exchange for $230 vouchers Chronicle Photo by Mike Kepka Maryann Duncan held an SKS Sporter assault rifle -- the type residents can exchange for $230 vouchers Chronicle Photo by Mike Kepka Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Illegal-Gun Buyback Slow Going / Only 250 rifles turned in despite budget for 5,600 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

1999-09-29 04:00:00 PDT CONCORD -- Owners of a semiautomatic assault rifle listed as banned under California gun-control law 10 years ago can saunter into Concord police headquarters, plunk the weapon down and walk away without fear of arrest.

What is more, Concord police property officer Maryann Duncan will give the owners a voucher worth $230 for every one of the cheap SKS Sporter-type guns they turn in.

Duncan is one of scores of law enforcement officers across the state helping to administer a $1.4 million buyback program developed to deal with the fallout from a feud between gun-control advocates and former Attorney General Dan Lungren over the interpretation of California's 1989 assault-weapons ban.

Although the Legislature approved enough money to buy back more than 5,600 guns, only 250 have been turned in so far statewide, said Nathan Barankin, a spokesman for state Attorney General Bill Lockyer. After the January 1, 2000, deadline, anyone who owns, sells or possesses one of the guns could be charged with a felony.

Nobody knows why response to the buyback offer is so slow, but it coincides with a surge in gun purchases of as much as 30 percent in California over the past year.

Lockyer's office is using a Web site, broadcast ads and outreach to gun organizations to publicize the SKS program.

In a policy that later became a major issue in Lungren's unsuccessful bid for governor last year, Lungren took the position in the early 1990s that some of the SKS-series rifles listed in the 1989 Roberti-Roos Assault Weapon Control Act were still legal if they were originally manufactured with a fixed clip holding about 10 bullets.

But the law clearly covered SKS rifles modified to accept a detachable AK-47 magazine that can contain dozens of bullets, said Stanley Voyles, a Santa Clara County prosecutor.

"They are literally the Saturday night specials of assault weapons," said Voyles, who had opposed Lungren's challenge to the conviction of a San Jose man for possession of one of the rifles. He said the modified SKS rifles were the cheapest and most popular of the assault weapons listed in the Roberti-Roos bill.

Lungren reversed his stand before his gubernatorial campaign began, but that left open the possibility that thousands of gun owners who had bought the weapons after relying on the opinion of the state's top law enforcement officer could be charged with a felony.

Gun advocates have estimated that as many as 15,000 of the semi- automatic rifles were sold during that period, Barankin said.

"The truth is, however, no one knows (how many)," he said.

The buyback program, which started January 1, includes immunity from prosecution for anyone who acquired SKS series rifles with a detachable magazine from 1992 to 1997. Owners can either surrender them for a voucher that the state will exchange for a check, destroy them or take them out of state.

Duncan said about eight or nine of the weapons have been turned in so far in Concord, which is handling the buyback program for several smaller cities in Contra Costa County as well. Most of the guns had been used only for target practice, and some of them had never been fired.

Some owners resent surrendering their guns, but the money helps a bit, she said. None of the owners has hesitated to give their names.

"You're dealing with the law- abiding people," Duncan said.

Some of the owners may be waiting until the last minute to see whether the laws will change, said Santa Clara County sheriff's Sgt. John Hirokawa. He said about six guns have been turned in to the San Jose police, but his department so far has received none.