Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 27, 1992 TAG: 9202270338
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG SCHNEIDER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
SENATE APPROVES SCHOOL-GUN LIMITS
Two bills that toughen guns-in-schools penalties passed the Senate 30-10 on Wednesday, but they lost provisions that would have put them in force as soon as the governor signed them.One bill, sponsored by Del. Linda Puller, D-Fairfax, would make it a felony to carry a loaded gun on school property.
A companion bill sponsored by Del. William Moore, D-Portsmouth, would make it a felony to fire or brandish a gun on public property within 1,000 feet of a school.
Supporters had worried the bills would expire in the Senate because they have been on the calendar for several days but ignored.
"While we have been massaging this bill and debating it, there have been several murders and many shootings," Sen. Henry Marsh, D-Richmond, said before the vote on Puller's measure.
Another Richmond Democrat, Sen. Benjamin Lambert, bemoaned the recent shooting deaths at Norfolk schools and his own city's dizzying murder rate. "I plead with you," Lambert said, "do something about the urban crime."
Sen. Robert Russell, R-Chesterfield, worried that if his son drove to school with a new rifle on his rack, then let a friend look at the gun in the parking lot, he would be guilty of a felony.
"In rural areas, an awful lot of schools are used as voting places," added Sen. Madison Marye, D-Shawsville. Voters with a loaded gun in a truck rack also would be violating the law.
Both bills make specific exceptions, however, for unloaded guns in racks or in closed containers.
Both bills also had emergency clauses so they would go into effect as soon as the governor signed them, but such a clause requires a four-fifths majority, or 32 votes. Supporters knew they lacked that many votes, and deleted the emergency provisions.
\ YEA OR NAY ON TOUGHER GUNS-IN-SCHOOLS PENALTIES
IN FAVOR: Sens. Brandon Bell, R-Roanoke; Elliot Schewel, D-Lynchburg; William Wampler, R-Bristol.
OPPOSED: Sens. Virgil Goode, D-Rocky Mount; Madison Marye, D-Shawsville; Frank Nolen, D-New Hope; Jack Reasor, D-Bluefield; Malfourd "Bo" Trumbo, R-Fincastle.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY