Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 14, 1993 TAG: 9301140246
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
GUN BILLS SENT TO FRIENDLIER PANEL
House Speaker Thomas Moss will boost the prospects of gun-control legislation in the 1993 General Assembly by assigning a key package of gun bills to a non-traditional committee.The Norfolk Democrat confirmed Wednesday that he intends to route most - and perhaps all - of a package submitted by Gov. Douglas Wilder to the House Courts of Justice Committee.
Gun control bills usually wind up in the House Committee on Militia and Police, where most are summarily killed.
Last year, for instance, the Militia and Police Committee voted 9-6 against a proposal for a three-day waiting period for the purchase of handguns and killed a one-a-month limit on handgun purchases by a 10-5 vote.
"I didn't like the way Gladys answered that poll," said Moss, who assigns bills to committees, when asked why he decided to reroute the legislation. Del. Gladys Keating, D-Fairfax, heads the Militia and Police Committee.
In a recent survey of legislators by The Virginian-Pilot & The Ledger-Star, Keating was lukewarm in her enthusiasm for gun control legislation.
Moss said he wants to put the bills "where they have a fair shot." In House Courts of Justice, "it could go either way."
Legislators agreed that the prospects for gun legislation, while improved in the courts committee, remained far from assured. The centerpiece of Wilder's package is a proposal to limit handgun purchases to one per month per individual, but he is supporting an assortment of other bills.
"It's still going to be a tough fight. But it's probably got a better chance" in the courts committee, said Del. Robert McDonnell, R-Virginia Beach, a former assistant prosecutor who is sponsoring a group of bills aimed at limiting gun violence.
Three parts of McDonnell's package were endorsed Wednesday by the National Rifle Association, which opposes Wilder's bills. In full-page newspaper ads, the NRA proposed a three-part plan it calls "Roadblock Virginia:" require proof of Virginia residency to get a Virginia driver's license; notify the state police of multiple gun purchases; and increase penalties for using fraudulent driver's licenses or "straw purchasers" to buy guns.
The NRA several years ago actively opposed giving multiple-purchase records to state police, according to a former legislator. Those forms now go only to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
The NRA protested that informing state police as well would cause duplication and excess paperwork for firearms dealers, said former state Sen. Moody Stallings, who sponsored several gun-control bills.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.