Philly Fights For Gun Control

Weary of the 400 gun deaths each year in his city's ragged inner-city neighborhoods, Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell girded himself for a showdown with the leaders of the gun industry.

First, he threatened a lawsuit to hold gun manufacturers liable for the blood on the streets. Then he took a train to Washington and, his voice dropping low and husky, let Smith & Wesson, Glock and Berretta know just what their guns do "to the heart and soul and very fabric of a great American city."

"One way or another in Philadelphia," he told a gathering of gun industry executives in April, "we will do anything, we will try anything to reduce the carnage."

Big-city mayors and gun makers were to begin meeting Monday to discuss urban gun violence and try to avert a suit.

Rendell's lawyers have spent months drafting the unprecedented lawsuit, taking a page from anti-tobacco crusaders. Courts, they say, should hold manufacturers liable for the costs of gun violence and the price tag is $58 million a year, for everything from police expenses to victims' support to cleaning blood off the streets.

Gun manufacturers and defenders scoff at the idea. And so far, the city has not yet pulled the trigger on the lawsuit. All sides say they want to avoid a court battle.

The battle is in the heart of gun country. Only California has more National Rifle Association members than Pennsylvania, and Independence Hall is the birthplace of the Second Amendment guaranteeing the right to bear arms.

Rendell, a Democrat considering a run for governor, has appointed a gun czar. State lawmakers want to crack down on people who buy guns in bulk and then resell them to the criminals, and the city has launched an initiative to more closely trace guns used in crimes.

Monday's meeting was to bring together top executives from Smith & Wesson, Glock Inc. and O.F. Mossberg, representatives from the National Conference of Mayors, and the American Shooting Sports Council, a manufacturers' trade group.

"If we're going to look at realistic solutions, the firearms industry is on board," said Richard Feldman, executive director of ASSC.

Some ideas that manufacturers have put on the table include state tax incentives to encourage retailers to keep guns from criminal buyers, or a city system so dealers could immediately fax police when someone buys several guns at once.

And manufacturers already have promised to put trigger locks on new guns, Feldman points out.

"We're willing to meet the mayors halfway on many of these issues," he said. Both the ASSC and the NRA, however, oppose new gun controls and say police and prosecutors need to better enforce existing laws.

The gun makers are not saying what it would take to reach a consensus, and neither is Rendell, who did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

By David Kinney