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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 10, 1993                   TAG: 9311100150
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

SENATORS PASS CRIME MEASURES

After senators told grim tales of gang violence in their states, they passed two measures Tuesday expanding federal authority to prosecute crimes committed by gang members and making it a federal crime to sell a pistol to a minor.

Senate passage of the two measures by overwhelming margins was another indication that the overall $22.3 billion crime package Senate leaders hope to pass today would include new federal initiatives on youth violence.

"There is a mood here," said Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., "that if someone came to the floor and said we should barb-wire the ankles of anyone who jaywalks, I think it would pass."

Gun-control measures normally are highly contentious, so the 99-1 vote to restrict the possession of handguns by juveniles was a remarkable affirmation of the growing fears that youth violence is out of control.

House leaders said they expected the handgun bill to pass the House as well, but the expansion of federal authority to prosecute gang crime may meet resistance.

by CNB