Newsom on Prop. H: "I'm having a difficult time with it..."

Words of wisdom from Robert Haaland: "We need to do our best to let issues inform our politics, not personalities. None of us are perfect in this regard, but we need to stop making our decisions based on who we hate or like. Letting political grudges dominate our decision-making hurts us in the long run." (www.sanfranciscosentinel.com)

And unwise words from Mayor Newsom on Proposition H, the handgun ban:

"It clearly will be thrown out," said San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom on Friday, adding that he planned to vote for the measure anyway to show his opposition to the proliferation of handguns. "It's so overtly pre-empted. I'm having a difficult time with it, and that's my one caveat. ... It's really a public opinion poll at the end of the day.'' (SF Chronicle, Nov. 5, Will Voters Deem SF a No-Guns-Allowed City?, Celia Vega)

Where exactly does the mayor's legal clarity on gun control come from? Is it possible the mayor is denigrating Prop. H because his primary political antagonist, Supervisor Chris Daly, is its author and prime mover? When he began sanctioning gay marriages in the city last year, Mayor Newsom, after all, showed little concern for mere legalities, even though Californians had alreadly enacted Proposition 22, the Defense of Marriage Act with 61 percent of the vote in March, 2000. I support gay marriage and gun control, but the latter seems more likely to weather litigation than the former.

Proposition H, on the other hand, was carefully drafted to avoid the legal pitfalls that doomed an an attempt a generation ago by the city to ban handguns.