Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 4, 1992 TAG: 9202040239
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WARREN FISKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
COALITION DEFEATS 2 GUN-CONTROL BILLS
Republicans and rural Democrats teamed up Monday to kill the two most significant gun-control measures before the General Assembly this year.The House Militia Police Committee voted 9-6 against legislation that would have allowed voters to decide this fall whether the state should impose a three-day waiting period on firearms purchases. Minutes later, the panel voted 10-5 against a bill that would limit Virginians to buying one handgun a month.
The actions represented a major victory for the National Rifle Association, whose 80,000 Virginia members inundated lawmakers with postcards and phone calls urging defeat of the regulations. The votes were also a setback to House Speaker Thomas Moss Jr., D-Norfolk, who vowed to work for their approval.
Six of seven Republicans on the committee voted against the waiting period and all seven opposed the handgun-a-month bill. They joined forces with three rural Democrats.
The pro-gun coalition outvoted a group of urban Democrats who said the bills would help stem violence and stop illegal gun running from Virginia to other states.
"I think our Republican friends have taken an irresponsible position," Moss said. "The only thing we can do is to try again another year."
The waiting period was endorsed by the City Council and police forces of Richmond and Norfolk, two localities plagued by drug problems and record homicide totals last year. The author of the bill - Del. Jean Cunningham, D-Richmond - said the restriction would help prevent crimes of passion.
But opponents of the bill argued that there is no proof that gun controls curb violent crimes. They noted that West Virginia, which has no purchase restrictions, has a lower murder and weapons assault rate than four regional states with gun controls: Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland and Tennessee.
Charles Cunningham, a deputy director of the NRA, said most crimes of passion occur after dark, when gun stores are closed. He and his supporters said the public already is safeguarded by the state's instant computer check of gun buyers' criminal records.
"A three-day waiting period imposes a presumption of guilt on innocent people who are hunters and gun collectors," said Charles Sunderlin of Richmond.
The handgun-a-month bill was sponsored by Del. William Robinson Jr., D-Norfolk. He said lax laws have attracted gun runners to Virginia to purchase firearms that are illegally transported to other states.
After defeating both bills, the panel unanimously agreed to have a subcommittee study gun control legislation and make proposals next year.