
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, July 27, 1993                   TAG: 9307270239
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BY ROB EURE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

GUN PAC INVESTS BIG IN ALLEN RACE

Gun advocates paid many of the expenses for George Allen, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, at the state GOP convention last month, recent financial disclosure statements show.

Virginians for Responsible Leadership, a political action committee formed in May with contributions from the National Rifle Association and a state group of gun advocates, contributed $18,100 to buy balloons and popcorn and to host a breakfast for Allen supporters at the June 4-5 convention. The group also paid for Allen's security at the event, as well as a number of other bills.

The June contributions raised the gun group's gifts to Allen to about $38,000 for the campaign.

Allen has the endorsement of the NRA, but has received no direct contributions from it. Instead, the NRA and the Commonwealth Sportsmen's Alliance funnel cash through Virginians for Responsible Leadership. Aside from start-up donations of $25,000 from the NRA and $20,000 from the sporting group, the leadership committee has raised no money.

All but $2,000 of that total has been spent on the Allen campaign or on payments to Republican operatives working with Allen.

The gun lobby's contributions are not huge in comparison to the $1.6 million Allen has raised overall, but the indirect method of giving may underscore a shifting attitude toward gun issues in Virginia.

"Certainly the support of the NRA and other gun lobbies, which used to be very useful to politicians, is no longer necessarily so helpful," said Robert Holsworth, a Virginia Commonwealth University political scientist. "There's some reason to believe that too close an attachment to the gun lobby can hurt you."

Recent polls show overwhelming public support for the state's new one-gun-per-month purchase limit and for instituting a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases.

Allen opposes both measures, while Mary Sue Terry, the Democratic candidate, supports them.

Citing the increase in violent crime during the seven years that Terry was attorney general, Allen advocates alternatives to gun control, such as his call for the elimination of parole for violent criminals.

"It's certainly no secret that George has backing from the NRA, but the real issue in this race is violent crime and how to deal with it," said Jay Timmons, Allen's spokesman.

Keywords:
POLITICS

by CNB