HOUSE PANEL BACKS BAN ON 2 SEMIAUTOMATICS

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

DATE: MONDAY, February 8, 1993                   TAG: 9302080106
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Staff report
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short
HOUSE PANEL BACKS BAN ON 2 SEMIAUTOMATICS
A House committee advanced legislation Sunday to ban the sale of two semiautomatic weapons often used in drug-related murders.
The bill endorsed by the House Courts of Justice Committee, would crack down on the "Streetsweeper," a 12-gauge shotgun capable of firing a dozen rounds in three seconds, and the "Tec 9," a weapon with no sighting that can rapidly fire 32 rounds without reloading.
"These guns are highly inaccurate and have no benefit to hunters," said Richard Parsons, a spokesman for Handgun Control Inc. "They are guns that are designed to wipe out large numbers of people in a short time."
Charles H. Cunningham, a lobbyist for the National Rifle Association, denounced the bill, predicting it would be the first step in an effort to outlaw all semiautomatic weapons in Virginia.
"There's no difference between these two guns and any other semiautomatic weapons," he said. "In California, they tried to ban 24 semiautomatic weapons but decided that's not enough. Now they're up to 60."
Also Sunday, the full House gave preliminary approval to bills to toughen the penalty for selling a juvenile a handgun and to attack school violence by requiring the parents of transferring students to inform the principal of their new school of any previous expulsions for violence or alcohol or drug use.
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GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1993

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB