NRA ADS BLAST HANDGUN LIMIT; BOYCOTT URGED

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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 13, 1993                   TAG: 9301130263
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium
NRA ADS BLAST HANDGUN LIMIT; BOYCOTT URGED
The first organized opposition to Gov. Douglas Wilder's proposed limit on handgun purchases surfaced Tuesday with full-page newspaper ads and a call for a boycott of Virginia products.
The National Rifle Association placed newspaper ads in Norfolk, Roanoke and Richmond; while the American Justice Federation, a little-known group based in Indianapolis, urged those "concerned about the rights of individuals" to stop buying Virginia products.
Meanwhile, the likelihood of full-scale legislative warfare over the gun bill - which would limit individual purchases to one per month - heightened as about 90 prominent Virginians joined the push to control purchases. "It's not an infringement upon individual rights," said James C. Wheat III, managing director of Wheat First Securities in Richmond and a pillar of the city's establishment. The gun limit is "a very reasonable proposal," he said.
Joining Wheat in "Virginians Against Handgun Trafficking" is a bipartisan group including corporate executives, leaders in law and education, and four former governors - Gerald Baliles, Mills Godwin, Linwood Holton and U.S. Sen. Charles Robb.
The issue will be "a litmus test for the General Assembly on whether they're going to succumb to special-interest groups," Wheat said in a news conference at the state Capitol.
The National Rifle Association, which has about 80,000 Virginia members, said through a spokesman that it is taking no position on the American Justice Federation's proposed boycott.
Ads appearing in Norfolk and Roanoke argued that "any gun-rationing scheme is only an illusion full of empty promises that cannot stop criminals."
Bill McIntyre of the NRA said the NRA's subsequent ads and lobbying will stress the need for tougher rules to keep out-of-staters from obtaining Virginia driver's licenses. Fraudulent licenses often are used by gun traffickers to establish Virginia residence and buy guns.
McIntyre said the NRA also will press to have state authorities notified of multiple handgun sales. A multiple-sales form now goes to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms whenever a gun dealer sells more than one handgun, but federal authorities are able to check on only a handful of those sales.
"Everybody wants to take a bite out of crime. Governor Wilder's proposal won't even leave teeth marks on crime," McIntyre asserted.
Linda D. Thompson, an Indianapolis lawyer and chairman of the American Justice Federation, said she decided to act after becoming aware of the proposed gun limit through newspaper articles. "Our attitude is that this type of overregulation of citizens has really gotten out of hand," she said.
"We're calling on anyone interested in civil rights to boycott Virginia by not spending any money" on Virginia products and not vacationing in the state, she said.
Thompson said the federation has a mailing list of about 200,000. The organization's purpose is to inform readers about events affecting civil rights. The focus involves such issues as search and seizure, handicapped rights and equal employment opportunity, she said.
Sheila Kennedy, director of the Indiana Civil Liberties Union, said she has not encountered Thompson or the Justice Federation in 30 years of practicing civil rights law in the Hoosier state.
In the group's first foray into the world of gun control, Thompson has contacted about a half-dozen gun groups and solicited their support of a boycott. At least two - the National Firearms Association and the Texas Arms Rights Coalition - are supportive, according to members of their boards of directors.
Both groups are based in Austin, Texas. The National Firearms Association, formed to protest a national ban on manufacture of machine guns, refuses to divulge its membership. The Texas Arms Rights Coalition represents eight local groups of Texas gun owners before that state's legislature, a spokesman said.
"Why should any citizen have to justify why they buy anything to the government?" said Thompson, when asked to explain why citizens might want more than one gun per month. "There are people who own more than one car, more than one pair of socks."

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB