WASHINGTON (AP) - Guns should be regulated for safety just like consumer products ranging from tires to teddy bears, a consumer group said three days before the second anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting.

The Consumer Federation of America supports proposed legislation that would make the Treasury Department responsible for gun safety in much the same way the Consumer Product Safety Commission oversees children's products and other items. Under the legislation, the department could issue recalls for defective guns, set standards for gun locks, restrict the size of guns to make them harder to conceal and even ban some guns.

"We see guns as virtually the last consumer product that's been exempt from health and safety legislation in America," said Susan Peschin, who manages the consumer group's firearms program.

Holding a semiautomatic pistol in one hand and a teddy bear in another, Peschin said there are four health and safety standards that apply to the stuffed animal but none to the domestic production of guns.

The National Rifle Association said the legislation would give too much power to the Treasury Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

"This action would allow unelected bureaucrats the power to ban guns," spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said.

The consumer group's announcement comes almost two years after a shooting rampage at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., that left 15 people dead, including the two gunmen.

Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., introduced one version of the legislation in 1999, but it never came up for a hearing, said spokesman Larry Berman.

The congressman reintroduced the bill in February, but Berman said it might take years to get the legislation moving. "We're not tremendously optimistic," he said.

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