THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 6, 1996 TAG: 9611060362
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 59 lines
At the prodding of the gun dealers lobby, Councilman W. Randy Wright asked the council Tuesday to end the city's $15 surcharge on handgun purchases.
The fee pays for a criminal background check by police that is more thorough than the state's.
``Whether we like handguns or not, it's a legal business that is being driven out of our city by the fees we tack on,'' Wright said.
Norfolk Police Chief Melvin C. High spoke against removing the fee. He said it enables the city to catch criminals who buy guns that the state computerized instant-record check does not catch.
He did not give figures but said in an interview later that the city process can help prevent sales to those with mental problems and people who have a pattern of buying guns illegally.
``I don't think lessening regulations benefits anyone other than the gun dealers,'' High said.
Only Councilman Herbert M. Collins joined Wright in favoring the repeal.
At issue, said City Manager James B. Oliver, was whether the council wanted to change its policy of trying to create an anti-gun climate in the community.
Oliver reminded the council that some years ago it had decided to prohibit the annual gun show at the Scope arena as well as other gun-related events on city property.
Mayor Paul D. Fraim said the city's policy is sound.
``That we have some of the strongest restrictions on handgun purchases should be seen as a plus,'' Fraim said. Past councils have acted because ``we have believed that there are too many handguns, and they damage too many lives.''
But Wright, reading from a report he said was supplied by a gun dealers association that opposes the fee, said Hampton made almost half the gun sales in the region because it has unregulated gun sales. Yet Hampton's crime rate was lower than in some localities with tighter purchase requirements, Wright said.
In response, High noted that the crime rate in Norfolk has declined over the past few years, partially because of the extra fee and background checks on handgun sales.
In a memo supplied to the council, High said easing the sales of handguns would not support the city's community policing program.
``Regulating the sale of handguns is a part of the overall effort to reduce crime, violence and fear,'' High said in the memo.
Wright said the city is hassling a legal business. He and Collins also said they would favor reopening Scope to gun shows.
In other business Tuesday, the council imposed a tighter set of regulations on repairing homes and buildings in designated historic areas, such as Ghent, downtown and Freemason.
Under the new regulations, owners will be required to get a ``certificate of appropriateness'' for any work on any part of a building that can be seen from the street. This would include, for example, replacing gutters or putting on a new front door.
Some requests would be handled administratively, but others would have to be voted on by the Design Review Board and the Planning Commission. Such a process previously applied only to work that required a building permit.
KEYWORDS: GUNS HANDGUN SURCHARGE by CNB