Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 31, 1992 TAG: 9201310311
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
VALLEY LEGISLATORS AGAINST GUN BILLS
To a man, the Roanoke Valley delegation is strongly opposed to major gun control legislation being considered by the General Assembly this year.Interviews Thursday with four area delegates and three senators produced nary a vote for the two major bills before the legislature: a three-day waiting period before the buying of a firearm, and restricting individuals to the purchase of no more than one handgun a month.
While legislators from larger urban areas in eastern Virginia say the bills would help curb gun running and inner-city violence, Roanoke Valley office holders dismissed the measures as superfluous and infringements on the rights of law-abiding citizens. Many added that their constituents oppose such legislation.
"I'll probably vote against both of those bills," said House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton.
Cranwell and several of his colleagues said they support a 3-year-old law that requires gun dealers to perform instant computer recordschecks on anyone seeking to purchase handguns in Virginia. They said they wanted to give the procedure more time to work before considering more restrictive measures such as the waiting period.
"A waiting period won't do anything that the instant criminal records checks doesn't already do," said Del. Steven Agee, R-Salem.
"The records check is working like a Swiss watch, that's what the state police say," said Del. Victor Thomas, D-Roanoke, one of the assembly's foremost opponents of gun control. "Anything we can do to make it better or safer, we're going to do, but without infringing on the rights of people."
Freshman Sen. Brandon Bell, R-Roanoke County, disputed arguments that a waiting period could save lives. "It won't stop crimes of passion," he said. "There's enough weapons out there that if someone is truly intent on getting a gun, theycan get it."
Del. Lacey Putney, I-Bedford, worried that a three-day waiting period would only encourage gun control advocates to push for additional "unnecessary restrictions" in the future. "Once you start it, then you ask for a 30-day waiting period for a permit and soon it will take six to eight months with all the paperwork," he said. "I'm not persuaded that gun control legislation has ever done anything to control violent crime."
The proposal for the one-handgun-a-month limit received equally bad reviews. The sponsor of the measure - Del. William Robinson, D-Norfolk - said the bill would prevent gunrunning from Virginia to other states. Robinson said 35 percent of all the shooting incidents in Washington, D.C., were done with guns purchased in Virginia. "It's an embarrassment for the state," he said.
People now can purchase handguns in Virginia by producing only one state identification card, typically a driver's license. The licenses can be acquired by anyone willing to swear he is a Virginia resident.
Roanoke-areal lawmakers said a more reasoned approach to stopping gunrunning is to back legislation requiring firearm purchasers to produce a second proof of state residence, such as a voting registration card or a utility bill.
Sen. Malfourd "Bo" Trumbo, R-Fincastle, said the one-gun a month limit would unfairly penalize gun collectors.
"What concerns me is that all this legislation concerns the few who are breaking laws," he said. "People don't seem to be as concerned about how this legislation affects the law-abiding majority."
Despite their skepticism about the two major gun control bills, the lawmakers said they would support other bills that would increase the penalties for carrying firearms on school property.
"That sort of thing has got to stop," said Del. Clifton Woodrum, D-Roanoke. "We've got to take strong measures to deal with that. Any reasonable suggestions, I'd be open to listen to."