Syndicated columnist Carl T. Rowan, calling himself a pawn in a larger gun-control debate, pleaded innocent Monday to charges he used an unregistered weapon to shoot a teen-ager who took an uninvited dip in his backyard pool. Rowan has been charged with one count each of possessing an unregistered weapon, and possessing ammunition for the gun, in connection with the June 14 shooting. Both are misdemeanors. District of Columbia Superior Court Hearing Commissioner Kaye Christian scheduled trial for Sept. 22, and released Rowan on his own recognizance. Rowan requested a jury trial. If he is convicted on both charges, the columnist could face a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a $2,000 fine. The district's 1976 handgun ordinance essentially bans posession of handguns and ammunition not owned at the time the law was passed, except for law officers. After his court appearance, Rowan lashed out at those who say he is hypocritical for using a handgun. ``I am aware that I am the pawn in a brutal game between those who favor and those who oppose handgun control,'' Rowan said, reading a prepared statement to dozens of reporters and television camera crews. ``I want to make it clear that I still favor a strict national law to control the availability of handguns. ``There is no hypocrisy in advocating a national policy that no one seems to be able to get through Congress,'' he said. The columnist also asserted that he has received additional death threats since the shooting incident. He had previously told police that he obtained the weapon used in the shooting after receiving similar threats in 1982. Rowan has said that the gun and ammunition were originally owned by his son, Carl Jr., who was told that he did not need to register them because he was serving as an FBI agent at the time. Outside the courthouse, a half-dozen handgun advocates rallied in support of the columnist's right to bear arms. ``We think that Carl Rowan may be guilty of raving hypocrisy, but he shouldn't be charged in a court of law today for protecting his home with a gun,'' said Lee Bellinger, the leader of Action for America, a conservative activist group that champions the right to private handgun ownership. ``We welcome him into the family of people protecting their home with guns.'' Other supporters carried posters reading, ``Warning: This home protected by Carl Rowan,'' coupled with a Rambo-like drawing of Rowan's head atop a muscle-bound, gun-toting torso. Still others displayed signs reading, ``Leave Carl Rowan alone.'' ``It (the Rowan shooting) shows what can happen in a moment of panic,'' said Sarah Brady, wife of James Brady, President Reagan's press secretary. She was not at the rally, but said in a telephone interview, ``With the handgun, in most cases you see more cases of misuse than you do anything else.'' Brady became president of Handgun Control, an anti-handgun group, after her husband suffered permanent brain damage when he was wounded during John Hinckley Jr.'s attempt to assassinate Reagan in 1981. Rowan, 62, was cleared last month of assault charges in the shooting incident after an investigation by federal prosecutors. U.S. Attorney Jay Stephens said at the time that he thought Rowan should be prosecuted on the weapons charges, but deferred that decision to District of Columbia officials, who normally decide whether to prosecute such cases. The shooting occurred, Rowan said, when he heard noises in his backyard, called police, and discovered Benjamin Smith, 18, of suburban Chevy Chase, Md., and three other youths by his pool. Rowan shot Smith in the wrist when, he said, the youth lunged at him. Smith and a companion Laura Bachman, 19, were charged with unlawful entry, but prosecutors dropped the misdemeanor charges in exchange for 40 hours of community service work.
