ROANOKE TIMES 

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

DATE: SATURDAY, November 20, 1993                   TAG: 9311200152
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

CRIME BILL PASSES; GUN BILL STALLS

Heeding the nation's alarm over violence, the Senate overwhelmingly passed an anti-crime bill Friday. But a follow-up measure to require a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases was blocked short of passage.

Despite a fresh plea from President Clinton, the Senate twice fell three votes short of the 60 needed to choke off a filibuster mounted by lawmakers demanding that the five-day requirement pre-empt more stringent rules imposed by some states and local governments.

That left the fate of the measure in doubt, with Congress working to adjourn for the year by early next week.

In contrast to the controversy over handgun controls, the anti-crime measure sailed through on a 95-4 vote. The measure calls for more than 100,000 new police on city streets and more prison cells, and would ban the sale of combat-style firearms.

"Crime is the single most pressing issue on the minds of the American people," Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph Biden said after the vote. He called it "a dramatic step in stemming the tide of violence that's overwhelming this nation."

The House already has approved a handgun control measure. From a trade meeting in Seattle, Clinton tried to pry loose the Senate version, as well, so a bill could reach his desk by Thanksgiving.

"I'm distressed at the Senate," Clinton said. While critics say the Brady bill won't solve all the problems, that "ignores the fact that it will solve some of our problems."

In addition to requiring a delay before people can buy handguns, the Brady bill requires checks into the customers' backgrounds.

For some senators, voting for gun control is politically difficult, Clinton said, "but clearly it is the right thing to do." 


 by CNB