Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 2, 1993 TAG: 9302020267
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARGARET EDDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
HOUSE PANEL ENDORSES GUN-LIMIT BILL
A House subcommittee endorsed Gov. Douglas Wilder's plan to limit handgun purchases, but its influential chairman remained silent as the vote was taken Monday night.Majority Leader Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton, considered a pivotal figure in the legislature's gun debate, did not join in what otherwise appeared to be a unanimous voice vote by the House Courts of Justice panel in favor of the one-handgun-per-month limit.
Cranwell, who in discussing other gun legislation appeared generally to oppose gun controls, gave no indication of his position on the gun-a-month plan. He joked that the subcommittee, appointed by Courts Committee Chairman James Almand, D-Arlington, appeared stacked in Wilder's favor.
"I've met random before, and this doesn't look random," he said.
Of the seven subcommittee members, five previously had committed themselves to the gun-a-month limit. The 20-member courts committee is thought to be more closely divided overall, with only a narrow majority for the purchase limit.
Still, the subcommittee was an important early test of Wilder's proposal, which will face full committee votes later this week in the House and Senate. The governor has made the purchase limit the centerpiece of an anti-crime package he hopes will cap his final year in office. He argues that the limit is vital to efforts to curb gun trafficking from Virginia to urban centers in the Northeast.
Del. William Mims, R-Leesburg, considered a Republican swing vote on the committee, said, "I don't think this [Wilder bill] is yet in a perfect form. . . . I hope the dialogue can continue with those with whom the dialogue has been proceeding."
In need of suburban GOP votes such as Mims', Wilder aides have has been counting noses for the administration proposal and exploring compromises that would permit purchases above the one-a-month limit, with a special police permit.
Late Monday, the subcommittee voted 5-2 agains a plan sponsored by Del. Steve Agee, R-Salem, to allow unlimited purchases by people who obtain the special permits. Police would issue the certificates upon receiving proof of the gun buyer's identity and residence.
U.S. Attorney Richard Cullen, who has been helping the governor round up GOP support, last week praised the GOP alternative but suggested some limit - perhaps three a month - is vital to stopping gunrunning.
Other bills endorsed by the subcommittee Monday night would:
Require that Virginians who use their driver's license as identification when buying a gun have had the license for at least 60 days.
Extend to two years the time that juveniles who unlawfully use a concealed weapon would forfeit their right to drive.
Require gun dealers to report to state police the number and type of guns sold to an individual. Now, those records go only to federal authorities. The same bill would require state police to retain records of gun purchases for 12 months, rather than 30 days as now provided.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1993