ROANOKE TIMES

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

DATE: SATURDAY, February 5, 1994                   TAG: 9402050100
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Staff report
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short


AS SPONSOR GRIEVES, GUN BILL IS OK'D

As state Sen. Louise Lucas stayed at home in Portsmouth to join relatives in grieving for a nephew gunned down this week, her fellow senators gave unanimous approval Friday to her bill to toughen restrictions on the use of guns by juveniles.

By a 37-0 vote, senators sent to the House of Delegates the bill to provide up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine to any parent who lets a child under 12 possess or use a handgun or assault firearm without the parent's direct supervision.

Lucas' nephew, Kevin Smith, 25, was shot dead Tuesday night on a Norfolk sidewalk. He had gone outside to get some air after watching a basketball game with friends. No arrests have been made in the case.

The senator got news of Smith's killing early Wednesday but remained in Richmond most of the day to present the bill to the Senate Courts of Justice Committee and to plead for tougher gun laws generally.

Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1994



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