THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 25, 1995 TAG: 9501250464
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 32 lines
The City Council is considering dropping a recently approved requirement for a national background check of handgun buyers - and the $25 fee that goes with it - after learning that most other Hampton Roads cities do not require the check.
The fee is what the FBI charges to check federal records using fingerprints that a gun buyer gives at the time of purchase. When the City Council voted last week to require the FBI check and charge the fee, it mistakenly believed that Virginia Beach and Chesapeake had already done so.
But several gun-shop owners told the council Tuesday night that Virginia Beach does not require the FBI check. The fee, they said, would drive Norfolk gun buyers to other cities.
City Manager James B. Oliver urged the council to consider keeping the FBI check, which the city's chief of police backs.
``Norfolk took the lead on this and did not wait for its neighbors on this issue of handgun control,'' Oliver said.
The state requires a computerized background check of handgun buyers. But only records within the state are searched, Norfolk officials said. The FBI check searches federal records for criminal convictions.
The City Council agreed to consider the matter next week. by CNB