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

DATE: SUNDAY, June 13, 1993                   TAG: 9306140199
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: FAIRFAX                                LENGTH: Short

FAIRFAX OFFICIALS ASSERT RIGHT TO CONTROL GUN USE

Fairfax County officials said they plan to defend a local law that bans most hunting, although a judge has ruled to overturn the law.

Fairfax leaders said they may appeal a ruling dismissing illegal hunting charges against two Virginia men accused of hunting in the county's rural western area.

The county law allows hunting only in selected areas with a permit.

"We can't have people popping guns all over this county," Fairfax Board of Supervisors Chairman Thomas Davis said Friday. "If it comes down to that, we would take [legal] action. The county will do everything it needs to make sure this ban remains in place."

General District Judge Barbara Kimble ruled Thursday that the county may regulate hunting, but said the county's law gives animal-control officials too much latitude in deciding where hunting is legal.

The debate reflects tensions arising from the spread of suburbs into once-wooded areas where hunters and wildlife both roamed freely.

Arlington County supervisors last week outlawed all weapon discharges. Previously, guns could be fired if they were at least 100 yards from houses.

by CNB