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

DATE: MONDAY, May 24, 1993                   TAG: 9305240036
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JEAN McNAIR ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

GUN SALES ARE UP, BUT WHY?

Through mid-May, more than 68,000 gun sales were reported to the Virginia State Police, which conducts criminal background checks on each buyer. During the same period last year, about 54,600 transactions occurred, said Lt. Robert Vass, who oversees the background checks. Starting in July, police will keep records on how many sales involve handguns.

Vass said the increase is more likely due to an improved economy than concern about approaching limits on handgun purchases.

"As more people work, there's more money to spend. People buy items outside necessities, such as firearms," Vass said.

He noted that sales went down to 13,319 in April after peaking at 16,372 in March, the month Gov. Douglas Wilder signed the law that takes effect July 1.

Firearms dealers say while sales have been fairly steady, customers are complaining about the new law that will make it a misdemeanor to buy more than one handgun a month without state police permission.

"They think it's ridiculous," said Dale Friesz, owner of The Loading Bench, a gun shop in Annandale.

Friesz has been giving his customers bumper stickers that read, "Buy One Gun A Month. It's The Law!"

Mitch May, a manager of Clark Brothers gun shop in Warrenton, said sales have been consistent.

"I don't see any mad dash to get out there and get something in a hurry," he said.

May said some people are so confused by the law they think it will impose a 30-day waiting period on handgun purchases.

Still, he does not expect the law to hurt business, except at Christmas when customers sometimes buy several handguns as gifts.

Wilder said the law would end Virginia's reputation as "the gunrunning capital of America."

The state earned that reputation because drug dealers from New York, Washington, D.C., and other Northeast cities have recruited Virginians to buy guns for them in exchange for drugs. Out-of-state residents also have obtained fake Virginia driver's licenses to load up on guns, police said.

The state requires a computerized criminal background check for gun buyers, but there are no waiting periods for residents and no limits on how many guns can be bought.

Gun-control advocates said the new law would stop a flourishing guns-for-drugs trade, but opponents said criminals would find other ways to get firearms.

"Mr. Wilder's intentions may be good, but the plan is not going to solve the problem. You can't legislate morals and that's what he's trying to do, apparently," May said.

At Southern Gun World across from state police headquarters in Richmond, few of the customers interviewed expressed strong feelings about the law.

"I'm not for it, I'm not against it," said Dencil Barnett of Richmond. "With all the crime, I don't think you're going to make any difference."

Officials concede the new law has a loophole that may allow people to buy more than one handgun a month through private sales. While licensed gun dealers can check state police computer files to see whether a buyer bought a handgun within the past 30 days, private gun owners do not have access to the files.

"Because private sales aren't tracked now, we don't really know how big a problem it is," said Del. Robert McDonnell, R-Virginia Beach.

McDonnell, part of a bipartisan coalition that supported the bill, said the law probably will deter some major drug dealers from buying handguns in Virginia but that's about it.

"I don't think it's going to affect crime in Virginia. It may affect crime in New York and D.C.," McDonnell said. "A family of four can still buy 48 guns a year so it's still a lot of guns."