Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 9, 1993 TAG: 9307090112
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
Bill Stump of Dublin shot a barrage of gun-control questions at Allen outside the old Pulaski County Courthouse, where the candidate had addressed some 50 people.
Although Allen felt the one-handgun-a-month purchase limit would do nothing to reduce crime in Virginia, he said it might help remove the perception of Virginia as a gunrunning state, and he had no plans to seek its repeal.
He said the new law should not do much harm, because few people would buy more than one handgun a month anyway. However, he does oppose the five-day waiting period for handgun purchases backed by former Attorney General Mary Sue Terry, his Democratic opponent.
"The crime rate in those jurisdictions with waiting periods is higher than it is in jurisdictions without a waiting period," Allen said. Instead, he would abolish parole for violent offenders and add mandatory prison time for crimes in which guns are used.
Stump claimed that Allen advocated gun registration when he proposed allowing multiple purchases over 60 days with notification of local law enforcement agencies. Allen said he proposed that as an alternate to Gov. Douglas Wilder's version to seek a way to allow more than one purchase a month.
Allen already has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association, and Stump later said that his argument was as much with the NRA for not holding Allen to a tougher endorsement standard. He said he had no such problems with the other GOP candidates - Mike Farris for lieutenant governor and Jim Gilmore for attorney general - and that he would vote for Allen in any case rather than Terry.
"I'd hate to be a politician," Stump confided, "with someone like me in the crowd."
Allen tried to tie Terry to the Clinton administration, particularly its tax package now going through Congress.
In prepared remarks in Pulaski, Allen challenged Terry to state her position on the Clinton tax plan as other Virginians in the political arena have done. He said it will cost jobs in Virginia as even Wilder said last week.
U.S. Sen. Charles Robb, D-Va., who voted for the Clinton budget and deficit-reduction plan, has been endorsed by Clinton for re-election. Wilder, who plans to seek Robb's seat, accused Robb of voting for a federal budget that would hurt Virginia to get that endorsement.
Allen suggested that, because Terry recently attended a Clinton function in Washington, she also might be inclined to back the Clinton budget "in exchange for campaign dollars. The taxpayers of Virginia deserve to know."
In an earlier interview Thursday in Wytheville, he said the Clinton budget would hurt Virginia businesses. "We can't afford to take more tax hits that'll make our products, our goods and services, less competitive," he said.
He repeated what he told educators in Blacksburg on Tuesday at the start of his statewide "listening tour," that he favored moderate expansions at state educational institutions to handle increasing enrollments rather than going to the expense of starting a new university.
He also favored more college students attending less-expensive community colleges for their first two years, and using tuition assistance grants at Virginia's private colleges. Professors could teach more courses in some places, he said, and summer school offerings should be increased.
In Wise County on the first day of his tour, Allen announced a proposal for a Southwest Virginia regional office.
The Virginia Department of Economic Development already has a Southwest Virginia office in Abingdon, but Allen said that his also would serve as the governor's regional office. It would provide a way for Southwest Virginians to express their concerns and problems with state agencies directly to the governor's office, he said.
"Richmond will not ignore the great people of Southwest Virginia," he said in Wise. "As hard-working Virginia taxpayers, you deserve the same consideration as folks in every other region of the commonwealth."
In Wytheville, he said he had started his statewide tour in Southwest Virginia because he thought the region had been ignored by state government.
Walt Smith of Shenandoah County volunteered to provide the recreational vehicle for Allen's state tour and has been doing the driving so far.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB