Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 11, 1993 TAG: 9301110097
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
FLEDGLING GUN-CONTROL LOBBY SETS ITS SIGHTS ON LEGISLATURE
THIS IS THE FINAL installment of excerpts from a series of stories produced by our sister papers, The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star in Norfolk, about how guns - more specifically handguns - are fueling crime both in Virginia and outside it.Some of these stories were written by reporters in a combined Richmond bureau shared by the Roanoke Times & World-News and the Norfolk papers.
Robby Burke's awakening to the problem of gun violence in America came 18 months ago outside a Savannah, Ga., motel.
The Harrisonburg minister and his seminarian brother, in Georgia to officiate at their sister's wedding, had just left their room headed for the ice machine. Rounding a corner, the pair interrupted three young men in the act of breaking into the motel laundry.
In an instant, one of the would-be burglars pumped three slugs from a .22-caliber revolver into Burke and one into his brother. Two bullets - one in Burke's leg, another in his lung - are still imbedded.
They are his daily reminder of the proliferation of guns in America and the growing randomness of the carnage they create.
Prodded by his experience, Burke has joined a fledgling network of Virginians committed to toughening the state's attitude toward gun sales. Many such activists are new to politics.
But the success of seasoned lawmakers, including Gov. Douglas Wilder, in passing gun-control laws during the upcoming General Assembly may hinge on the ability - or failure - of such neophytes to be heard.
Consider the statistics:
Handguns claimed the lives of 24,000 Americans in 1991, according to government data. That is 7,500 more Americans than died in the Vietnam War during 1968, the peak year for casualties in that conflict.
In 1990, handguns were used to murder 22 people in Great Britain, 68 in Canada, 87 in Japan and 10,567 in the United States, according to Handgun Control Inc.
An average of 639,000 violent crimes - murders, rapes, robberies and assaults - were committed annually from 1979 to 1987 by people armed with handguns, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
Despite such numbers, many Virginia lawmakers said change is uncertain in a legislature long dominated by forces friendly to the National Rifle Association and its gun-bearing membership.
Several legislators and a Task Force on Violent Crime commissioned by Wilder will introduce gun-control bills in the session that will begin Wednesday. Ideas include limiting gun purchases to one per month and longer jail sentences for those who use guns in crimes.
"The public pressure is so intense now that there may be people with second thoughts," said House Speaker Tom Moss of Norfolk. "But it's going to be tough because the NRA is so powerful."
The National Rifle Association is renowned for its ability to mobilize members almost overnight and produce avalanches of letters, phone calls and personal visits to lawmakers.
In contrast, the efforts of gun-control advocates until recently have been scattered at best.
Del. Gladys Keating, D-Fairfax, who heads the House Committee on Militia and Police, said she was astounded at how little organized support there was for gun-control proposals at three recent public hearings.
And Del. Roger McClure, R-Centreville, a committee member, concurred: "During debates, I'll hear from 20 of them [NRA members] and none from the other side. That is the usual pattern."
Against that firepower is a smattering of groups. Most prominent nationally is Handgun Control Inc., formed in the wake of the shooting of former presidential press secretary Jim Brady. The Washington-based group is pushing for a national waiting period before handguns may be bought.
Handgun Control also lobbies state legislatures. But with only two or three paid lobbyists on its staff at any one time, efforts in individual states are minimal.
Hoping to fill that gap are members of Virginians Against Handgun Violence. The group, conceived a year ago after a shooting on the grounds of Booker T. Washington High School in Norfolk left two people dead, has several hundred members statewide and is spinning off chapters in Northern Virginia, Lynchburg and Richmond.
The organization has adopted three legislative aims: a five-working-day waiting period for purchase of a handgun, a limit on handgun purchases of one per month and a ban on the manufacture and sale of assault weapons.
The group plans to staff an office in Richmond during the legislative session - a first for gun-control advocates. Its supporters reflect a range of perspectives:
Many, like Robby Burke, are personal victims of gun violence. Before his accident, "I was like the mass of people, sympathetic, but not active," Burke said. He has formed a Harrisonburg-area network called Shenandoans Against the Firearms Emergency.
In an area where unfettered gun ownership is widely considered a constitutional right, Burke is urging sympathizers to let lawmakers know there is another viewpoint.
Also involved are citizens, like David and Dottie Whitt of Springfield, who have lost children to handgun accidents.
The Whitts' 20-year-old son, Lance, was fatally wounded on Sept. 19, 1990, at the apartment of an acquaintance who was showing him a handgun.
"When you lose a young person, particularly to a gun shooting, it is so outrageous and shocking and the grief is so overwhelming that the majority of victims retreat from life," said David Whitt, a Navy commander assigned to the Defense Information Systems Agency.
Instead, "my wife and I have vowed to be as active as we can to stop the carnage," Whitt said.
The Virginia PTA, representing 300,000 members, is joining the push as well.
"People are recognizing that guns are too available in our communities and are spilling over into the schools," said Marsha Ellison, president of the Roanoke Central Council of PTAs.
Few gun-control advocates are willing to predict that such rising concern will prompt lawmakers to restrict gun sales this year, however. Many legislators say they are unconvinced that limiting access to guns sold by dealers will turn the tide of violence.
Every time he goes to the grocery store or a restaurant, said Del. Pete Giesen, R-Augusta, he is accosted by gun owners fearful of government controls. "I was given a shotgun at 16. I went hunting with my dad. . . . It's just that atmosphere in which I grew up in the valley," said Giesen, explaining why he'll work to protect the rights of gun owners.
Veteran lobbyists for several grass-roots organizations suggest these techniques for citizens who want their voices to be heard in the legislature:
To get motivated, "remember that you're paying the salaries of these people in Congress and the legislature." And don't be afraid to call them - at home if it's important.
Get started through neighborhood groups, civic leagues or local clubs. If they don't agree with your position, affiliate with state or national groups that do.
Find out who is on the legislative committees that will hear your legislation and "bombard" them with letters, faxes and telephone calls.
Remember that "you can make a difference. But you have to band together and you have to be sincere and you have to speak with one voice as much as you can."
Whitt is among those predicting that such steps will breed success for gun-control advocates - if not in 1993, then someday. "A sleeping giant in this country has been wakened up," he said.