TERRY SUPPORTS MONTHLY LIMIT ON GUN BUYING

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, January 5, 1993                   TAG: 9301050231
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BY DALE EISMAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium
TERRY SUPPORTS MONTHLY LIMIT ON GUN BUYING
Attorney General Mary Sue Terry, the likely Democratic nominee for governor this year, threw her support Monday behind proposals to place a one-a-month limit on handgun purchases.
In a prepared statement, Terry said the limit "is a sensible response to reduce the commonwealth's role in gun trafficking, while at the same time protecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners, sportsmen and collectors."
The "gun-a-month" bill is a key recommendation of a violent-crime study group created by Gov. Douglas Wilder, with whom Terry has been at odds on other subjects. Wilder has said the gun control bill will be among his top priorities in the 1993 General Assembly, which convenes next week.
Supporters say the limit would make it more difficult for gunrunners to buy large numbers of guns here and take them north for resale on the black market.
Terry sidestepped a question about whether she'll support other gun control proposals, including a waiting period for handgun purchases.
"This year, [the gun-a-month limit] will be the principal focal point. The governor and others involved really consider this the mainstay of their effort," she said.
Gun control is expected to be hotly debated in the legislature. The issue could give Wilder and Terry a chance to find common ground as the attorney general prepares her campaign to succeed Wilder as governor. The two Democrats have been feuding for weeks over Terry's representation of the state employees' pension fund.
"I'm looking forward to getting back to working together," with Wilder, Terry said Monday. Because of the emotional nature of the gun control debate, she said, "strong executive leadership" will be critical to the chances of passing any bill.
Terry, who has not figured prominently in gun control debates in the legislature in past years, supported efforts in 1992 to make people seeking Virginia drivers' licenses produce two forms of identification to prove their residence.
Drivers' licenses are the most commonly used forms of identification for people seeking to buy guns. The easy availability of a Virginia license, even to someone from out of state, has been cited by police as a contributor to gun trafficking.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB