Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 10, 1993 TAG: 9302100199
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROB EURE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
GUN BILL PASSES
The state Senate overwhelmingly passed a compromise handgun purchase-limit plan Tuesday, setting up a potential staredown with the House of Delegates over how strictly to regulate handgun purchases.The vote all but assured approval this year of some gun-purchase restriction, but the exact form of the control will be the focal point of much of the final three weeks of the legislative session.
Embracing the compromise Gov. Douglas Wilder crafted with Republicans over the weekend, the Senate voted 35-4 for a bill to permit purchase of more than one gun a month when buyers obtain a certificate from the state police.
The original proposal, given House approval Monday 59-41, has provisions for purchases beyond the gun-a-month limit, but gives state police more discretion over whether to issue permission.
House Speaker Thomas Moss of Norfolk promised the House would `hold fast" to force the stronger bill on the Senate.
"There's no gain for the House to vote for a weaker measure after passing the stronger one," he said. "We're the ones up for re-election this year."
Moss was still steamed that Wilder struck the deal without consulting fellow Democrats; he said the governor bargained too soon.
"You know that comment he made about not being in a foxhole with Billy Robinson? Well, you could say the same thing about the governor," Moss said. `He caved in."
Del. William Robinson, D-Norfolk, who fought for a similar restriction on handgun sales last year, predicted in December that this year's effort would fail. That drew a searing attack from Wilder, who said he wouldn't want to be caught in a foxhole with Robinson in a tough fight. That comment soured, at least temporarily, relations between the governor and the legislative black caucus.
The Senate never considered the original bill and rejected several attempts by Sen. Richard Saslaw, D-Springfield, to strengthen the compromise.
Saslaw, who supported the final measure anyway, scoffed at the compromise as a "sham" and said he hopes the House would force a Senate vote on the original bill.
"Under this sham, you can buy all the guns you want," Saslaw said of the Senate-passed bill.
"The question is not whether there are additional purchases, but whether the circumstances should be spelled out in the bill," said Sen. Edward Holland, D-Arlington, who sponsored the Senate bill.
Both Saslaw and Lt. Gov. Don Beyer predicted Tuesday that if faced with a choice of the original one-gun-a-month proposal or nothing, the Senate would back down.
The House on Tuesday also passed a separate gun-control measure, outlawing the sale, importing or possession of the "streetsweeper," an automatic machine gun. But the chamber voted not to ban the "Tec-9," a smaller automatic weapon that law enforcement officials say is more popular among many drug dealers.
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GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1993
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