Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 11, 1995 TAG: 9502140020
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MATT CHITTUM, ROBERT LITTLE AND DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But when Phyllis Bailey of Roanoke, a registered lobbyist for the league in Virginia, testified before the state Senate on Jan. 15 in opposition to Rocky Mount Sen. Virgil Goode's concealed weapons bill, she drew some fire from one gun-rights advocate.
Richard Gardiner, a Fairfax attorney who has represented the NRA, sent a letter to the State Corporation Commission requesting the SCC fine the league for operating outside its authority. So far, no action has been taken.
Gardiner said he is not representing the NRA in this complaint.
``I sent the letter as a citizen of Virginia and a supporter of the legislation,'' he said.
In the letter, Gardiner cites the league's certificate of incorporation, which refers largely to advocating voting among women. In Gardiner's view, promoting ``participation by the enfranchised women in the civil life of our country'' does not include taking a stand on gun control.
Bailey said Gardiner is off base in his claim. The league's certificate of incorporation was written in 1920, she said, and the league's mission has broadened in the subsequent 75 years.
Why did Gardiner decide to initiate the petition?
``I wouldn't even begin to try to figure that out,'' Bailey said. ``If his purpose was to keep me from speaking against these bills, I'm afraid I cannot accommodate him.''
Home on the range
The state Senate wanted to make it easier for Virginia residents to carry concealed weapons, and Sen. Madison Marye didn't like it.
For one thing, the Shawsville Democrat said he'd rather people just carry their pistols on their hips, which is already legal.
But there also was that incident with his ex-military friend.
Trained in the use of firearms, the friend once had a pistol in his pocket that was not of a brand or caliber with which he was familiar, Marye recounted on the Senate floor Tuesday.
The man reached into his pocket, and the weapon accidently fired.
``I'm not going to tell you what happened,'' said Marye, who voted against Senate Bill 744, which passed 24-16 in the Senate and now must be approved by the House of Delegates to become law.
``He's from Pocatello, Idaho, and he's the only cowboy out there who speaks with a very high voice right now."
No attention, please
Some legislators want to draw attention to their bills. Not Del. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem - at least when it comes to one bill he's sponsoring this year.
It's not that he's trying to sneak the legislation through; he just doesn't want to alarm citizens, he said.
The bill's subject: Necrophilia, or sex with corpses.
Griffith is sponsoring a bill, which passed the House unanimously and now awaits action in the Senate, that would make it a felony to ``defile'' a dead human body.
Griffith said a Roanoke Valley psychologist pointed out to him that under current law, there's no specific statute making necrophilia a felony. It's illegal, all right, but prosecutors must apply other laws that don't mention necrophilia by name.
Griffith, who said there was an ``incident'' involving necrophilia in Danville a few years back, said he's concerned that some tricky lawyer or judge might try to use the absence of a specific prohibition to get a case thrown out of court on a technicality.
``A commonwealth's attorney shouldn't have to worry about whether his case is going to be overturned on appeal,'' Griffith said.
However, Griffith said he's concerned that a lot of publicity about his bill would make citizens think necrophilia is a common problem.
``It's an unusual circumstance,'' he said, reassuringly.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1995
by CNB