OH, SHOOT! JOAN MAY LOSE GUNS By LARRY CELONA and ALY SUJO

Joan Rivers' right to pack heat could be suspended if the caustic comedienne is charged with assault because of her meltdown at a car-rental company last week, police sources said.

The sources said Rivers has a permit to carry guns, with two weapons registered in her married name, Joan Rosenberg.

But her permit could be in jeopardy, the sources said, if the 69-year-old comic is booked for assault after last Friday's incident.

"If she's arrested, the license will be suspended," one source said. "If she's convicted of assault in the third degree, she loses her license. But she can re-apply in a year."

Rivers could face the charges for allegedly throwing a marker pen at a female Dollar Rent A Car clerk. Detectives are waiting to hear from 38-year-old Griselda Santana, who was treated for an eyelid contusion, before deciding whether or not to file charges.

The former talk-show hostess, who allegedly tossed the pen during a foul-mouthed tantrum after her driver was forced to wait in line, has downplayed the incident as "a tempest in a teapot."

But detectives said a videotape taken of the incident showed Rivers "flicking" the marker toward Santana.

And sources quoted her as saying "Don't you know who the f- - - I am?" and "How could you let me wait on line? You stupid . . . bitch."

The cacophonous comic has been criticized for being insensitive to the fashion-impaired, but it was not immediately clear why she would need a firearm as an accessory.

One police source said celebrities usually get gun permits "when there's been some kind of threat."

The talk-show veteran has often angered viewers who say her scathing commentary at her annual pre-Oscars show goes over the line.

Past on-air rants have included racist slurs as well as personal insults directed at show-biz luminaries.

In 1997, Rivers had a well-publicized verbal brawl with an animal-rights activist who threw red paint on her sable coat.

"I was going to punch her," Rivers told reporters. "But she was too much of a coward to stand on the street corner and fight me. If an animal had to die to keep me warm for 18 years, it's OK."

Last March, the outspoken star dropped out of a celebrity shoot for the video of "We Are Family," telling organizers she'd been duped into collaborating.

"F- - - world peace!" she reportedly shouted.

-- Anonymous, December 25, 2002