City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, Whose Old Law Firm Worked For The NRA, Comes Out For Gun Control

By Gene Maddaus Fri., Dec. 21 2012 at 7:30 AM

Mike Feuer and Carmen Trutanich

The school shooting in Newtown, Conn., has put gun control back on the national agenda. Over the last two days it's also become an issue locally, as the candidates for L.A. city attorney jockey to prove how tough they are on guns.

It started on Wednesday, when incumbent Carmen Trutanich wrote a letter expressing support for an assault weapons ban, a ban on high-capacity magazines, and other measures.

This is the same Carmen Trutanich whose old law firm represented the National Rifle Association in its battles against local gun control measures, and who was endorsed by the NRA in his first campaign.

So on Thursday, his opponent, Assemblyman Mike Feuer, decided to challenge him.

Feuer issued a statement publicly challenging Trutanich and a third candidate, Greg Smith, to renounce support from the NRA.

"Los Angeles residents need a city attorney who will prioritize curbing gun violence -- not a city attorney who's beholden to, supported by, or on the side of the pro-gun lobby," Feuer said in a statement.

Rick Taylor, Trutanich's strategist, blasted Feuer for "cynically" trying to exploit a tragedy. In his own statement, he claimed that Trutanich deserves credit for a continuing decline in L.A.'s violent crime rate.

"It's disgusting and shameless," Taylor said. "The facts are that under Trutanich's leadership gun violence has steadily gone down. What's Feuer talking about?"

Dave Jacobson, Feuer's spokesman, responded again, touting Feuer's endorsement from the Brady Campaign and his long record of authorship of gun control measures. Jacobson also described Trutanich as someone who "was enriched by and endorsed by the NRA" and as someone "who has said we don't need more gun laws."

Indeed, in August 2008, Trutanich told the L.A. Daily News, "My position is we don't need more laws to control guns. We have the laws. We just have to enforce them."

It's not clear exactly when Trutanich's evolution occurred, but it appears to have been after the Tuscon shooting in January 2011. In April 2011, Trutanich sent a letter to Congress urging a reinstatement of the assault weapons ban and a ban on magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

Trutanich, however, denies he changed his position on the issue.

"There is no evolution," said Trutanich's spokesman, Frank Mateljan. "Nuch has always supported gun control."

Trutanich took a beating in the 2009 race over his firm's work for the NRA. Trutanich said at the time that it was his partner, Chuck Michel, who did the work.

In 1997, when he was on the L.A. City Council, Feuer authored a measure that banned sales of ammunition clips of 10 rounds or more within city limits. Michel sued the city on behalf of a gun store owner, claiming the city had exceeded its authority.

Greg Smith, also running for city attorney, issued a statement Thursday saying he has always supported an assault weapons ban.

So after all that, everybody agrees on the need for an assault weapons ban. We've heard of disagreeing without being disagreeable. For Trutanich and Feuer, this is a new twist: agreeing without being agreeable.

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Stanley_Robb

Mike Feuer allowed child molesters to continue teaching in our schools just like his Assembly colleague Betsy Butler. Seem unbelievable? It's not. Check the record on Senate Bill 1530. They were so intimidated by the California Teachers Unions that they both voted to kill the bill in the California Assenbly.

Feuer tries to make political points while this nation is grieving but one look at his record, and he has no problem if children are subjected to teachers with a record of sex offenses. He's another Sacramento phony who drove this State into the huge hole that it currently finds itself.

abramsrl topcommenter

"Los Angeles residents need a city attorney who will prioritize curbing
gun violence -- not a city attorney who's beholden to, supported by, or
on the side of the pro-gun lobby," Feuer said in a statement.

If this quote is accurate and not out of context, e.g. Feuer's being asked about Trutanich's prior law firm, then it shows a disturbing abuse of Newtown to make political points.

While I could use up hours recounting my dislike of Trutanich, let's not criticize him when he changes his mind due to real life experiences.

If we want to address some issues, let Feuer explain why he supported the CRA taking an extra 10% from school budgets and why he opposed the elimination of the CRAs which left LA with approximately a $11 BILLION deficit. Without the CRA/LA, which Feuer would bring back to life if he had the chance, we could afford a proper size police force (see recent LA Weekly article about LAPD's lack of resources to track down Hit and Run Drivers) and an adequate LAFD and paramedics so that people in medical distress would not needlessly die. Back in April 2005, the LAFD was complaining that Angelenos were "needlessly dying."

Whether someone dies of being shot or dies because the City gave $52 Million of its emergency response budget to Eli Broad and $30 Million to CIM Group, the person is dead. How does Feuer champion government policies which take money from First Responders resulting in needless deaths, while opposing actions which allow machine guns to reach the hands of thugs resulting in needless deaths?

Here's why the hypocrisy exists: we get all excited by violent deaths while ignoring white collar corruption, even when the white collar corruption kills far more people.