The Unsorted BBS Collection/thegreatunsorted.tar/thegreatunsorted/texts/txtfiles_misc/news83

Text File | 1993-03-05 | 2KB | 33 lines

02/24/1993 By KAREN HAYWOOD  Associated Press Writer
   RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- The House of Delegates voted Wednesday to
accept a modified Senate version of Gov. L. Douglas Wilder's
proposal to limit handgun purchases to one a month.
   The compromise bill, engineered by Republican legislators and
passed by a 57-39 House vote, requires Virginians to get a
certificate from state or local police before they can buy more than
one handgun a month.
   Those buyers also must provide proof of identity and address and
must give a legitimate reason for wanting the weapons.
   Earlier Wednesday, the Senate had voted 33-6 in favor of the
one-handgun-a-month proposal, but also with the provision that
people with the certificates could buy more.
   Wilder's initiative is aimed at erasing Virginia's reputation as
a haven for gunrunners and criminals in the Northeast.
   Wilder praised the General Assembly's action. "Virginians can
hold their heads high knowing that they have taken a positive step
toward stopping the spread of violence in the state and around the
nation," he said.
   The House and Senate bills still are not identical, however. The
House voted 49-46 to add an amendment to exempt private sales from
the proposed limitations, but a similar amendment failed in the
Senate.
   Charles Cunningham, a lobbyist for the National Rifle
Association, said the versions of the bills passed "will still
unfairly affect law-abiding gun owners and sportsmen."
   But he added, "The good news is the gun-rationing bill is dead,
and multiple purchases will remain legal in Virginia."
   The Senate also approved a bill that would ban Virginians from
buying, importing, or giving away the Striker 12 shotgun, commonly
called a streetsweeper, and the Intratec Tec-9 semiautomatic assault
pistol. Possessing the guns would not be illegal.