Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 3, 1994 TAG: 9402030166
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BY BONNIE V. WINSTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
After a 14-year-old Brunswick County boy shot a 13-year-old classmate while removing a clip from the handgun he was carrying on a school bus, Lucas drafted legislation making parents more criminally responsible for letting firearms reach their children's hands.
The day she introduced the bill, a 10-year-old Richmond boy fatally shot a 12-year-old relative.
And on Wednesday, just hours before she was to present her bill to the Senate Courts of Justice Committee, Lucas learned that her 25-year-old nephew, Kevin Smith, had been gunned down on a Norfolk sidewalk. Police believe robbery was the motive. The suspect fled; as of Wednesday night, no one had been arrested.
Still looking slightly peaked from her hospitalization last week with chest pains, Lucas held her composure Wednesday afternoon while talking about the violence that suddenly had struck too close to home. But her emotions surfaced quickly when she questioned Gov. George Allen's commitment to fighting violence and ending crime.
"When the governor gave his [State of the Commonwealth] address, he said, `Stop the bleeding.' But he said nothing about handguns and gun control. If we don't do something about guns, the bleeding won't stop," Lucas said.
"It's unfortunate it had to hit my family. But my question to him is this: Does it have to be a member of your family before you decide it's a crisis? Who will be next?"
Lucas, 50, a former Portsmouth City Council member and community organizer, said she delayed going home to grieve with her sister's family so that she could present her crime bills to her Senate colleagues.
One bill would exempt from sales taxes any purchases by nonprofit "Crime Solvers-type" organizations that give rewards for information leading to arrests.
The other would make it a misdemeanor - punishable by a jail term of up to six months, a fine of up to $1,000, or both - for a parent to knowingly permit his child under age 12 to possess or use a firearm - loaded or unloaded - except when under the parent's supervision.
She said she talked with relatives who agreed that the circumstances of her nephew's death dictated that she should stay in Richmond a few hours longer to fight.
"This is only a micro-mini step, but at least it's a step in the right direction," Lucas said. "What happened to Kevin just doubles my resolve. I sit here hoping that it will make a difference. Otherwise, what's it all for? What's it all for?
"We talk about jobs, jobs, creating jobs. But if our kids keep dying, what does it mean?"
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1994
by CNB