Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 17, 1993 TAG: 9306170202
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BY ROB EURE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research Inc. survey, taken last week, found Virginia voters favor a variety of gun-control measures by substantial majorities. Only when asked if they favored outright bans on handguns or on all guns was a majority opposed.
With the gun-control issue, Terry has drawn a sharp distinction between herself and Republican nominee George Allen, who opposes waiting periods as "gimmicks."
"I think Mary Sue has it right when she says the public is ahead of the politicians on this issue," said Tom King, Terry's campaign consultant. "There is certainly vocal opposition" from groups such as the National Rifle Association, King said. "But it's clear where the people are."
Ken Stroupe, Allen's campaign spokesman, said Terry is "trying to snooker the people of Virginia. Ask them if they want 20 years to mean 20 years or if they want reforms in sentencing violent criminals, and you'll get numbers at least as high as 88 percent."
Guns have quickly become the dominant issue in the still-young gubernatorial campaign, as the candidates jockey for advantage over platforms to fight violent crime.
In her call for the waiting period, Terry apparently has struck a chord among voters frustrated and fearful over the rise in crime.
She also is frustrating Allen, who argues that Terry ignored violent crime during seven years as Virginia's attorney general.
"If she thought this was such an important proposal, why didn't she press it before?" Stroupe asked. "Violent crime went up 28 percent while she was attorney general. Eighty-eight percent of Virginians rightfully want something done. But what they want is to know that if you put somebody in prison they stay there. Five-day waiting periods don't do that."
State Sen. Kenneth Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, said a media focus on gun control "is doing a real disservice, because it's allowing Mary Sue Terry to get away with her terrible record on violent crime. I don't know anyone who would argue that a five-day waiting period would reduce crime," he said. "If she says it does, then she's lying."
The National Rifle Association, which has endorsed Allen and has contributed $25,000 to a political action committee helping Allen's candidacy, has found strong majorities for gun control "if you don't ask anything else," said Jim Weber, a GOP consultant who does polling for the NRA. "If you ask people will it work, they say no. If you ask for the root causes of violent crime, they talk about economic or social circumstances."
Susan Whitmore of Handgun Control Inc., argued that voters understand "tougher gun laws alone won't solve the crime problem, but it is a very important part of the answer. Common-sense laws will cut down on deaths and injuries."
Public anger at the use of guns in crime is growing, said Gov. Douglas Wilder, who broke ground in the traditionally pro-gun state legislature by pushing through the one-gun-a-month bill this past winter.
"You could feel it last fall" when he proposed his measure, Wilder said. "If George Allen can't read that, he can't read anything."
The poll of 835 registered voters, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, found that Virginia voters:
Favor the new one-a-month gun purchase law: 79 percent to 16 percent.
Oppose allowing law-abiding adults to carry concealed handguns in public: 74 percent to 19 percent. Virginia law allows circuit court judges to issue permits for carrying concealed weapons.
Favor banning the sale of all semiautomatic guns and pistols: 68 percent to 26 percent.
Oppose banning the sale of all handguns: 59 percent to 35 percent.
Oppose banning the sale of all guns, rifles, pistols and shotguns: 73 percent to 25 percent.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB