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

DATE: SATURDAY, February 13, 1993                   TAG: 9302130214
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

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PARTY LEADER SURVIVES COMMENT ABOUT KLAN

Democratic legislative leaders chastised but declined to fire the director of their caucus Friday after he sought publicly to link three Republican lawmakers to the Ku Klux Klan because of their opposition to a handgun purchase limit.

In a letter distributed to reporters, House Speaker Thomas Moss of Norfolk, Majority Leader Richard Cranwell of Vinton, and Dels. Alan Diamonstein of Newport News and Alson Smith of Winchester also sought to distance the caucus from Kevin Mack and his press release Tuesday.

In the release, Mack said Del. Robert Orrock of Ladysmith "aligned himself with extremist special-interest groups like the NRA and the KKK" by voting against Gov. Douglas Wilder's proposal to limit handgun purchases to one per month. - Staff and wire report

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