THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 24, 1995 TAG: 9503240552
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Guy Friddell
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
We are at war.
The General Assembly contributed to it by letting many more Virginians carry concealed weapons.
The excuse was to arm citizens so they might protect themselves against criminals. Out of The Roanoke Times and World-News comes a cautionary tale of heightening violence.
Two turkey hunters have been convicted of firing a shotgun at a Virginia Tech student as they chased his truck on a road in the Jefferson National Forest last April.
Carlos Bishop pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court last week to malicious shooting in an occupied vehicle and use of a firearm in a violent crime. Lewis Terry was convicted of the same charges.
Terry faces a five-year minimum sentence on the firearms charge and additional time for the shooting charge. Bishop, who testified against Terry, could get less than the minimum at sentencing June 5.
The two admitted they had been drinking heavily when they saw Raymond Ellis driving the opposite way, checking a course for a bike race. Bishop testified that when Ellis passed them, Terry said, ``Let's kill that . . . nigger.'' (Terry denied using the slur.)
``And when he did, I grabbed my gun out of the back, and I stuck it out the window and shot up in the air,'' Bishop said. ``And, you know, it just seemed like the thing to do at the time.''
Terry testified that he thought his passenger was only shooting into the air until he saw Ellis swerve, and Bishop said, ``I'll get him.''
After the first shot, Terry, 33, turned the car around and began pursuing the 23-year-old engineering student. Ellis, who wasn't injured, said that during the chase, Bishop was hanging out the car's window firing at his truck.
Bishop said he remembers shooting at Ellis' truck three or four times. After that, ``it starts going blank. I went into stupor, I reckon.''
The pair followed Ellis for five miles as other cars pulled off the narrow road.
``I got nervous,'' Ellis testified. ``I got angry at points, too, back and forth. I started getting really nervous at the end.''
So much for the mountains. In Hampton Roads the problem is handguns. Teachers report that pupils turn first to the newspaper's local pages to read of crime.
On the grounds that judges were too picky in restricting permits for weapons, the Assembly loosened restraints. But capable judges, free of pressure from the National Rifle Association and seeing the endless line of criminals, are better able to decide what is wise.
In Richmond, Mayor Leonidas Young begged Gov. George F. Allen to exempt the city from the law that will make it easier to carry concealed weapons. Allen campaigned on returning rights to localities, but he rejected the desperate mayor's plea.
Crime is rampant, but the governor and legislators are giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
KEYWORDS: GUN CONTROL by CNB