Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 3, 1993 TAG: 9302030149
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By MARGARET EDDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
WILDER, GOP GUN BILLS ADVANCE
A procedural ploy allowed Gov. Douglas Wilder's one-handgun-a-month bill to emerge unscathed Tuesday from a Senate subcommittee.After a heated skirmish over parliamentary rules written by Thomas Jefferson, Wilder's bill and an alternative GOP proposal were passed without recommendation to the full Senate Courts of Justice Committee.
"Jefferson's not here," snapped Sen. Henry Marsh, D-Richmond, the subcommittee chairman, amidst GOP complaints that Democrats had subverted established rules of order to rescue the handgun limit.
The scrambling, which involved the Senate clerk and Committee Chairman Edward Holland, D-Arlington, prevented a 3-2, party-line vote against Wilder and for the GOP plan.
In a rare circumstance in an assembly controlled by Democrats, the GOP holds a 3-2 majority on the subcommittee. The numbers reflect a recent surge in GOP membership in the Senate, which has 18 Republicans and 22 Democrats.
The split gave the GOP an opportunity to embarrass Wilder, but Democrats retaliated by turning up Holland. As chairman of the full committee, he asserted a right to vote as an "ex officio" member of all subcommittees. The result was a 3-3 split and a stymied subcommittee.
"He is a member by virtue of being chairman," said Senate Clerk Susan Clarke Schaar, who "happened" to arrive in the committee room just as the vote was about to be taken. "The precedent of the Senate is that he does" have the right to vote, she said.
But Sen. Mark Earley, R-Chesapeake, protested, "The chairman of Courts of Justice has never before voted [with the subcommittee] since I've been here. . . . If it hasn't been done before, we can't have the argument that it's the precedent."
The GOP alternative would allow multiple gun purchases only if the buyer presented proof of identity and residency to a police officer.
The full Senate committee is expected to debate the bills Sunday.
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GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1993