Gasoline station operators and other retailers are understandably spooked by an anti-gouging bill introduced in the Legislature. But, properly applied, such a law actually should protect them from the ire of a public that doesn't always understand why the price at the pump goes up.

The proposed law, requested by the state Department of Justice, would ban hoarding and prevent price hikes of more than 10 percent after the declaration of a state or federal emergency. Prices of fuel, food, transportation and medical supplies would be protected, and violators could face stiff penalties.

At a hearing this week, convenience store owners and others expressed fears that the measure could put them out of business by restricting their ability to respond to changing market conditions.

That price at the pump provides a simple example. It drives motorists nuts to see gas prices rise immediately after a disaster such as Hurricane Katrina, because they know that the same fuel being pumped from the same underground tank had been purchased by the retailer at a lower price prior to the disaster. Now that identical fuel suddenly costs more. What could this be but gouging?

Actually, it isn't gouging at all. The folks who sell gasoline use most of the income from one delivery of gasoline to pay for the next delivery. If the price they pay starts heading up (a function of worldwide market factors out of local dealers' control), then the local dealers have to increase their prices immediately in order to have enough money on hand to pay for their next, more expensive shipment.

The current legislation may or may not need some more tweaking, but ideally, having a fairly administered anti-gouging law in place would give consumers confidence that somebody's keeping an eye on these thing - and that real cases of gouging will be prosecuted.