LOS ANGELES, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Los Angeles city officials on Thursday endorsed four state gun control bills introduced by area lawmakers.

    Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Police Chief William Bratton and Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca were among who endorsed the proposed legislation, dubbed the "Shooting Victims Bill of Rights."

    The move would help deter gang violence, they said.

    "Lost or stolen handguns that fall into the wrong hands can have deadly consequences, and we're here to do something about it," Villaraigosa told a press conference at the City Hall.

    California Assemblyman Mike Feuer introduced a bill that would require all new semiautomatic handguns to be equipped with microstamping technology by the start of 2010, which marks a gun's make, model and series number on spent shell casings.

    Assemblyman Kevin DeLeon is sponsoring a bill that would require retailers to have a license to sell ammunition.

    Assemblyman Lloyd Levine introduced a bill on Wednesday -- the Lost and Stolen Firearm Notification Act -- that would require firearm owners to notify law enforcement within five working days of discovering that a gun has been stolen or irretrievably lost.

    And Sen. Alex Padilla is sponsoring a bill that would allow California's law enforcement agencies to use and compare forensic and ballistic information kept on a national database.

    Feuer said his proposed law would help authorities trace the owners of guns used during crimes and could lead to a reduction in gun trafficking.

    "I think all of us are tired of drive-by shooters all too frequently escaping justice, and we're here today to do something about that," Feuer said.

    "Law enforcement lacks the evidence it needs, but the technology exists right now to track down killers who use handguns. It's time to require the technology be used so that law enforcement can do its job," he said.

    DeLeon said he felt compelled to write his bill after a gang member's stray bullet struck and killed 9-year-old Charupha Wongwisetsiri while she and her mother were in the kitchen of their Angelino Heights home on Dec. 20 last year.

    "This tragic kind of thing takes place much too often, which is why we are introducing this comprehensive package," said DeLeon, who lives near the girl's home. "It's much more difficult to actually buy a can of spray paint than it is to buy ammunition. Now, that's ridiculous in logic, and irrational."

    But a pro-gun group called the measures ineffective. Sam Paredes, executive director of Northern California-based Gun Owners of California, called the proposed laws "retreads of bills that have come forward before and failed."

    "None of these proposals are really serious attempts to fight crime or do anything significant," Paredes said. "National ballistic databases are relatively impractical, while arresting a person who loses a gun is just laughable. The bottom line is that no amount of gun control will keep criminals from getting what they need to commit their crimes."