Moran Wants Local Options to Deter Virginia Gun Violence

By Nicholas F. Benton

In a strongly-worded letter citing the appearance of three dozen armed protesters at the Falls Church City Council meeting last month, Rep. Jim Moran Tuesday urged the leadership of the Virginia legislature to "allow localities to protect the well-being of their constituents."

Moran also noted that new gun laws that went into effect in Virginia July 1 now also allow assault weapons, high powered rifles and other dangerous weapons onto the grounds and parking lots of airports, including Reagan National and Dulles International.

Moran's letter was circulated among members of the Falls Church City Council at its meeting Tuesday. City Clerk Kathleen Buschow noted a number of letters from Falls Church citizens supporting an administrative move by City Manager Dan McKeever task City employees with alerting local police of individuals seen carrying weapons.

City Councilman David Snyder, who spoke adamantly in support of McKeever's ruling when the three dozen armed pro-gun rights advocates showed up at the Sept. 20 Council meeting to protest it, called Tuesday for "a multi-disciplinary assessment of whether there is a gang problem in Falls Church."

He said it was an "irony" that at the same time armed gun-rights advocates were packing the Falls Church City Hall, a two-day meeting of public officials and civic leaders was being held nearby in Fairfax County to assess the growing dangers of youth gangs, and the association of gangs with firearms.

The new state laws on guns "deprives local government the ability to reduce gun violence, and in the face of the growth of gangs, is really counterproductive," Snyder said.

He cited a federal circuit court of appeals ruling in California that let stand a local law restricting gun use there, adding that the U.S. Supreme Court did not feel the need to address it further. The court ruled that municipalities have a right to "reasonable restraint," he noted.

In his letter issued Tuesday, Moran also spoke to the recent decision by the Metropolitan Airports Authority, in the wake of the new Virginia gun laws, to allow weapons at Reagan and Dulles. "At a time when we are expending significant resources to combat potential terrorist actions and working to close security loopholes laid bare by the 9/11 attacks, it is inconceivable that we would relax restrictions on the carrying of firearms and other weapons on airport grounds," Moran wrote.

Moran noted that while "elderly women, young children and even famous Senators are being scrupulously checked by Transportation Security Administration officials, in search of such dubious prohibited items such as nail clippers, weapons such as the .50 caliber sniper rifle would not be permitted on airport property."

He noted that in a 1995 report, the Rand Corporation warned that .50 caliber rifles "present a clear and present danger to U.S. air bases," as such weapons "give light forces a portable and deadly option against parked aircraft. These rifles are effective against man-sized targets up to 1,600 meters and could hit aircraft-sized targets at even greater ranges. Despite such lethal capabilities, these weapons can be purchased with fewer restrictions than handguns."

"The issue is not whether a criminal or a terrorist would comply with any gun restrictions; it is whether law enforcement must stand aside until these weapons are actually used to harm innocent people," Moran wrote.