THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 26, 1995 TAG: 9501260401
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARGARET EDDS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
When Linda J. Campbell applied for a permit to carry a concealed gun last August, Suffolk Circuit Court Judge Westbrook J. Parker turned down her request.
Her stated reason - ``isolated house, no close neighbors, and often come home alone after dark'' - wasn't good enough, the judge said.
On Wednesday, Campbell, a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association, was at the state Capitol to support a bill making it mandatory for judges to issue such permits in most cases.
``I just want to be able to protect myself,'' she said at a crowded public hearing on Senate Bill 744, probably this year's highest-profile gun legislation.
Both sides in the heated debate agree that the change would likely put guns into the hands of thousands of additional Virginians. The dispute is over whether that's a good or bad idea.
The issue has different overtones in different areas of the state.
In populous Fairfax County, where urban crime is an issue, only one concealed weapons permit has been issued in the past 17 months, according to state police records. In rural Henry County, where guns and hunting are part of the culture, 655 were issued in the same period.
As long as government is failing in its duty to protecting citizens, ``we should allow them to provide the safety for themselves,'' said Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle, R-Virginia Beach. Stolle and Sen. Virgil H. Goode Jr., D-Rocky Mount, are sponsors of bills liberalizing the gun permit process.
``You'd have 130,000 people packing heat in the state of Virginia,'' countered Sen. Richard L. Saslaw, D-Fairfax County, citing estimates of what happened when similar laws were passed in other states. ``Ask the local police if that's advisable.''
According to public hearing testimony, fewer than 8,000 permits have been issued statewide over the past 17 months.
The legislation, which is expected to pass the Senate but may face tough opposition in the House Courts of Justice Committee, was opposed by spokesmen for the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police, the League of Women Voters, the Richmond Police Department, and Virginians Against Handgun Violence.
Opponents were far outnumbered by supporters, who were rallied by the National Rifle Association and the Law Enforcement Alliance of America.
``At issue is the belief that the individual citizen and not government has the primarily responsibility for their own safety,'' said Goode.
KEYWORDS: GUN PERMITS GENERAL ASSEMBLY by CNB