Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 3 · column 1 of 7 · from the scan, no model involved
By JEFF NELSON
Rappahannock N«w» SUIT Writer
Virginia’s lawmakers passed 897 bills ranging from establishing sales taxes to creating new crimes during the last General Assembly session.
Over 800 of the bills went into effect July 1. The list includes four new crimes strengthening state law in the area of gun control, drug enforcement, domestic violence and the protection of agriculture.
New this year
• It becomes a violation of state law to provide any handgun to a child. Current law allows for low level misdemeanor charges only when juveniles are provided with pistols, which legally do not include revolvers. The new crime includes all types of handguns and strengthens the punishment for the crime to the highest level of misdemeanor.
• The act of stalking someone with the intent to harm the person is now against the law in Virginia. The new law, called the stalking law, was hailed as a major step in strengthening laws against domestic violence. The law is intended to allow police to arrest and prosecute husbands and boyfriends who follow and threaten women before they actually harm their intended victims.
• The General Assembly passed a law prohibiting animal rights groups from releasing livestock and laboratory animals without permission.
• State law now identifies and separates drug “kingpins” and establishes a new crime to charge the big-time dealers with. Under the new law, a person instrumental in
87.9%