Political Landscape:

The state Senate approved a bill Thursday that prohibits carrying a loaded firearm in a car in an unincorporated area of the state.

The loaded-firearms bill, which Sen. Jack Scott introduced and supported by a variety of law enforcement agencies, including the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, aims to close a loophole in current gun-control laws and crack down on incidents of road rage.

Incorporated cities already prohibit carrying loaded firearms in vehicles, as do some individual counties that have passed similar gun-control ordinances, including Los Angeles County. But bans on loaded weapons in unincorporated areas of California are subject to local laws, not state regulations, said Steve Whitmore, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

“This closes that loophole and provides unification,” he said. “It’s better for the county, better for law enforcement and better for residents.”

The Senate’s Public Safety Committee approved the bill 3 to 2 in April and sent it to the Senate floor Thursday, where it passed 23 to 14.

It passed along strict party lines in the face of heavy lobbying by the National Rifle Assn., Scott said.

“It’s been very typical of the NRA,” he said. “For years they’ve lobbied against any restrictions on guns. But it’s not safe to have people traveling around with a loaded firearm. This is a safety issue.”

The Sheriff’s Department brought the bill forward after the 2006 fatal shooting of Deputy Jeffrey Mitchell, who was fired on from a car on a dark country road in Sacramento County.

The bill will now move for consideration to the California State Assembly.

Dreier pushes for energy reforms

Rep. David Dreier, whose district includes La Crescenta, unveiled a series of energy proposals Wednesday, with fellow House Republicans, which he hopes will lower gas prices, create jobs and reduce the country’s reliance on foreign sources of oil.

One proposal he hopes can achieve all three goals is drilling for oil in the 19-million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, where some believe a large supply of crude oil bubbles beneath the vast wilderness in the Alaskan territory.