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those children’s deaths lingered in the minds of many legislators.
But Carter said the gun used in that spree was not an AK-47, but rather a semiautomatic model. No fully automatic machine gun, purchased legally, has been involved in a crime in the United States since the passage of the Machine Gun Act of 1934, said Carter.
In past years, Virginia legislators, often heavily lobbied by the National Rifle Association (NRA), have been hostile to implementing gun control laws.
This year, however, the cry for control was difficult to ignore. Del. Kenneth R. Plum, D-36th District, said that more than 70 percent of his constituents indicated they favored some form of gun control.
Ironically, an NRA representative said the organization has been in favor of instant background checks for years. However, the organization was unwilling to support the measure, saying only that they did not oppose it.
“The NRA didn’t oppose the bill because they were able to engineer a substitute [the final version] that was something we could live with,” said Carter.
“The NRA is basically in favor, nationwide, of an instantaneous check on all firearm sales — no wait, no delay, no hoops to jump through,” said Carter. The new law requires non-Virginia residents to wait several days until a complete check can be completed.
Del. Raymond R. “Andy” Guest Jr., R-31st District, was one of only 15 House members to oppose the legislation.
Guest has repeatedly said that the background check will not prevent criminals from getting guns, but will inconvenience legitimate gun buyers and sellers.
Carter pointed out that no one in the United States may buy a handgun anywhere except in their home state. “The perception that the handguns in D.C. are coming from Virginia or Maryland is simply not true,” said Carter.
Gun salesmen have, under federal law, the discretion to refuse service to anyone, and Carter said Clark Brothers regularly exercises that right.
There are about 43 million handguns in the United States, a 200-year supply, said Carter. “The genie’s out of the bottle. We ought to be doing something to these characters who are using these things illegally.”
Carter said that once the bill takes effect, in November, the way gun dealers interpret the definition of “assault rifle” will probably have national impact because other states w'ill probably institute similar laws based on Virginia’s statute.
“Nobody knows exactly what an assault rifle is,” said Carter. “If I come after you with a knife, I guess that's an assault knife.”
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