Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 26, 1995 TAG: 9501260120
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Another said that if she'd had her .38-caliber pistol in her purse three years ago, she could have shot the man who murdered her parents.
Both made impassioned appeals before the Senate Courts of Justice Committee on Wednesday to advance a bill that would ease restrictions on permits for carrying concealed handguns and other weapons.
``I am forced to remain vulnerable whenever I am outside my home,'' said Bruna Bizzotto of Fairfax County, who said a judge turned her down for a permit despite her firearms training and a physical threat by a woman obsessed with her husband.
Suzanna Gratia of Copperas Cove, Texas, said state law there prohibited her from carrying a concealed handgun when her parents were killed during a mass murder at a Texas restaurant. She urged Virginia legislators to learn from her experience.
``I am not angry at the man who did this,'' said Gratia, one of several people who spoke on behalf of the Falls Church-based Law Enforcement Alliance of America. ``I am angry at my legislators for legislating me out of the right to protect myself and my family.''
Police and gun control advocates have said the bill would increase gun proliferation and violence, but supporters of the measure outnumbered them Wednesday.
The bill's sponsors, Sens. Kenneth Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, and Virgil Goode, D-Rocky Mount, want to eliminate the ``demonstrated need'' requirement for a permit. That would enable virtually anyone who has had firearms training and can legally acquire a gun to get a two-year concealed weapons permit.
Stolle, a former police officer, said that ambiguity in the present law makes it harder to obtain permits in some parts of the state than others.
``We have an arbitrary system for issuing gun permits,'' Stolle said. ``It is our responsibility to fix it.''
Many speakers said it was easier to get permits in Southwest Virginia than metropolitan areas such as Northern Virginia and Richmond.
The Alexandria commonwealth's attorney, the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police and gun control groups criticized the bill.
``In effect, this bill says that if I'm eligible to buy, I'm eligible to carry,'' said Patty Masterson, vice president of Virginians Against Handgun Violence. ``We are concerned about the women who are being encouraged to purchase handguns to protect themselves and their children.''
Secretary of Public Safety Jerry Kilgore said Gov. George Allen, a staunch supporter of gun owners' rights, backs the measure with slight revisions.
Allen wants people convicted of violent misdemeanors such as domestic assaults banned from obtaining permits.
The committee referred the bills to a subcommittee.
Elsewhere at the General Assembly on Wednesday:
Two Republicans pushed for an amendment to the state constitution that reaffirms the rights of parents.
Sen. Stephen Martin of Chesterfield and Clifton Del. James O'Brien said the government is too intrusive on parents who are trying to raise their children their own way.
``It's a simple and direct statement of a basic right,'' Martin said. ``Parents, not government, raise children.''
They said the amendment would give parents greater discretion in such matters as keeping their children from receiving free condoms in school.
Conservative groups such as The Family Foundation and the Christian Coalition back the measure.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1995
by CNB