Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 9, 1993 TAG: 9302090345
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Long
DELEGATES OK TOUGH GUN LIMIT
The House of Delegates passed a one-handgun-a-month purchase limit Monday, steamrolling a less-restrictive compromise announced earlier in the day by Gov. Douglas Wilder, law enforcement officials and a group of mostly Republican lawmakers.The winning coalition in the 59-41 vote included a majority of both House Democrats and Republicans. Coupled with a Senate committee vote for the compromise, the House action all but assured passage this year of gun-purchase limits.
Voting for the House measure were 23 Republicans, primarily from suburban areas, and 36 Democrats. The unexpectedly broad support elated gun-control enthusiasts, who saw it as proof of dramatic change in a body long defensive of the rights of gun owners.
"There is momentum to do more than `something,' " said David Weaver, a spokesman for Handgun Control Inc., the nation's leading gun-control lobby. "The National Rifle Association is out of the picture."
Soon after the House action, the Senate committee voted 12-3 for the compromise bill. Senators said it is better than Wilder's original proposal because it gives more explicit guidelines on who can be exempted from the one-a-month limit.
Each house is expected to give final approval to its approach today, pushing the issue toward a showdown in a conference committee to resolve the differences.
Wilder's original bill "was full of Swiss cheese," said state Sen. Edward Holland, D-Arlington, one of the Democratic negotiators of the compromise.
That view was not shared by Handgun Control's Weaver, or by angry House Democrats who charged that Wilder had compromised too quickly on his original proposal.
While Weaver characterized the two approaches as a "win-win situation" for gun-control enthusiasts, he said Wilder's first plan was preferable. "The surest way to stop multiple handgun sales is to limit them outright," he said.
Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of the NRA, called the proposals "cosmetic gun control that does nothing to affect the reality of violent criminals in the state. You can hear the criminals laughing tonight."
Unveiled at a packed morning news conference, the compromise would allow citizens to buy more than one gun at a time if they first convinced police of their identity, their Virginia residence and their intent to use the guns legally.
State police would have unrestricted authority and time to investigate the information provided by buyers, and could deny applications found wanting. Wilder said most applications would be granted on the spot.
Individuals who met the criteria would get non-transferable multiple-purchase certificates valid for seven days. The House plan spells out several exemptions from the one-a-month limit, including purchases of antique firearms.
Supporters - including U.S. Attorney Richard Cullen and State Police Superintendent Carl Baker - acknowledged that the plan might allow some multiple buys. But they argued that few criminals would be so bold as to seek an exemption.
"I feel the bill is strengthened, and I feel this bill will pass," Wilder predicted. It will have "more of a deterrent effect than you might imagine."
Ten hours later, after the House vote, the governor issued a statement, saying, "The bottom line [on the bills] is the same. There will now be limits to handgun purchases in Virginia and that number is one per month."
Some House leaders were unhappy with Wilder.
House Speaker Thomas Moss, D-Norfolk, who led the push to retain the original bill, was dismayed at the compromise.
Referring to Wilder's past troubles with the legislature, Moss claimed, "He's so concerned he's going to have another failure that he's willing to weaken this bill."
The compromise, Moss said, "weakens it to the point it will not be a good bill."
At a closed Democratic caucus Sunday night, all but a handful of Democrats agreed to join Moss in voting down the compromise and bringing the original bill to a vote.
Introducing the compromise on the House floor, Del. Steve Agee, R-Salem, said it "allows us to break the drugs-for-guns cycle and to do so in a way that makes accommodation for law-abiding citizens."
Under questioning from Del. William Moore, D-Portsmouth, Agee acknowledged that the law would allow "an unlimited number" of multiple purchases by a law-abiding citizen.
Asked if a car dealer could decide to give handguns to his customers, Agee replied: "I don't know, but I doubt it."
The House voted 34-65 to reject the compromise, as Democratic opponents said it would lead to gun registration.
Floor debate on the original bill followed, and featured impassioned pleas both for and against the controls.
"How many handguns does it take for a law-abiding Virginia citizen to be happy for one month?" asked Del. Clinton Miller, R-Woodstock. "This is so basic. So human. So decent. Vote on that basis."
But opponents challenged both the assumption that Virginia is a gunrunning state and the argument that gun limits help. "One handgun a month is not going to fix anything," said Del. Thomas Jackson, D-Hillsville.
And House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton, argued that gun limits are Band-Aid legislation that only delay real progress.
"We have to fix and heal the ravage that has torn urban American apart. . . . We've got to start early on in the lives of people," Cranwell said.
News that the House had resoundingly defeated the compromise sent the Senate Courts of Justice Committee into a funk.
"Obviously, it isn't going to fly. We ought to end the charade" and go back to the original proposal, said Sen. Richard Saslaw, D-Springfield.
But after other members insisted the compromise was actually stricter than the original, the committee began firming its resolve.
If it comes to a showdown between a compromising Senate and a stubborn House, lawmakers said, something will give.
"My prediction would be that something will come out, because I think pressure for gun control has taken the upper hand," said Sen. Joseph Gartlan Jr., D-Fairfax County. "I'm getting calls from Northern Virginia that say not only to support gun control, but to support the strongest possible bill."
Staff writer Greg Schneider contributed to this story.
YEA OR NAY\ ON THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES VOTE ON GOV. WILDER'S COMPROMISE GUN-CONTROL BILL
\ IN FAVOR: Steve Agee, R-Salem; Clifton Woodrum, D-Roanoke
\ OPPOSED: Ward Armstrong, D-Martinsville; Tommy Baker, R-Radford; Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton; Joyce Crouch, R-Lynchburg; Creigh Deeds, D-Warm Springs; Willard Finney, D-Rocky Mount; Thomas Jackson, D-Hillsville; G.C. Jennings, D-Marion; Joseph Johnson, D-Abingdon; Joan Munford, D-Blacksburg; Lacey Putney, I-Bedford; Roscoe Reynolds, D-Martinsville; Jackie Stump, D-Buchanan County; Victor Thomas, D-Roanoke
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GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1993