The Unsorted BBS Collection/thegreatunsorted.tar/thegreatunsorted/texts/txtfiles_misc/news51.txt

Text File | 1993-02-04 | 2KB | 35 lines

Part 2 of 2
   The problem, Rollins said, is that the Republican version does
not limit the number of gun purchases.
   Supporters of gun control contend that allowing unlimited gun
purchases by state residents has made Virginia a haven for
out-of-state criminals who buy the guns themselves, using false
identification, or hire state residents to buy weapons for them in
so-called straw purchases.
   Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle (R-Virginia Beach), a former police vice
squad officer, said the governor and other advocates of gun control
need "a dose of reality." Stolle said criminals seldom buy guns, but
steal them instead. Of 55 violent crimes involving guns studied in
Virginia Beach, Stolle said, only one of the weapons used was bought
in a gun store.
   Both measures are opposed by the National Rifle Association, the
leading opponent of gun control legislation. NRA lobbyist Charles
Cunningham, speaking against the GOP idea, said most gun purchases
occur on weekends, at dealers or gun shows, when many small police
departments would not be open to receive requests.

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   Richard Parsons, a lobbyist for Handgun Control Inc., arguing in
favor of Wilder's plan, said the Republican option doesn't deal with
the problem of straw purchases.
   The panel gave its blessing to another Republican measure,
offered by Sen. Edgar S. Robb (R-Charlottesville), a retired 22-year
employee of the FBI, that seeks to strengthen the state's instant
background checks of would-be gun buyers.
   The bill would require police agencies to record felony warrants
in a statewide computer within 72 hours of issuing them. Robb
estimated that 12,000 to 18,000 outstanding felony warrants have not
been put in the computer that is used by gun dealers to check
whether a potential buyer has a criminal record.