PART 1 of 2 PARTS
02/07/1993, By Donald P. Baker, Washington Post Staff Writer
   RICHMOND, Feb. 6 - Lobbying from both sides on Gov. L. Douglas
Wilder's one-handgun-a-month proposal intensified today as a Sunday
showdown vote in a Senate committee approached. Hundreds of callers
lit up the Statehouse switchboard, opposing TV commercials blanketed
the capital city and lawmakers were pressured to take a stand on the
dominant issue of the 1993 General Assembly session.
   The National Rifle Association is once again showing its
masterful ability to bury lawmakers in form postcards and to keep
their phones ringing with well-coached calls that have helped keep
Virginia's gun laws among the least restrictive in the nation for
decades.
   But this year, the Wilder administration has brought together a
coalition of gun control advocates that is trying to match the gun
lobby postcard for postcard, TV commercial for commercial, statistic
for statistic in the campaign to reach voters and, through them, to
influence their elected representatives.
   NRA lobbyist Charles H. Cunningham conceded today that gun
control proponents have "made their case stronger" than in the past,
but only because "they have conned the public into thinking that gun
rationing will reduce violent crime."
  Wilder unveiled the plan in his State of the Commonwealth address
three weeks ago to deal with Virginia's reputation as a leading
source of guns for criminals in East Coast cities. Since then, the
governor has talked about little else in his public appearances. His
proposal threatens to overwhelm all 2,800 other bills introduced
this session.
   The issue has even attracted the attention of comedian Jay Leno,
who mentioned on Friday's "Tonight Show" that Wilder wants to limit
handgun purchases to one a month. "After you get someone to sell you
one gun," Leno joked, "you can pretty much get them to sell you
another."
   Legislators couldn't escape the lobbying even when they returned
to their hotel rooms and apartments this weekend, because both sides
are blanketing Richmond television and radio stations with constant
commercials.
   Carmela Bills, whose duties in the House clerk's office include
answering telephones when legislators' offices are closed, said
today that she is receiving "not hundreds, not thousands, but
zillions" of calls, which she is dutifully recording on long yellow
legal pads. "I just wish they'd take action," Bills said. "Pass it
or kill it. But I have a feeling this will go on until the bitter
end."
   Sunday's test comes in the Senate Courts of Justice Committee,
where the outcome is much in doubt. Urban and suburban lawmakers are
more likely to support the bill, and they outnumber rural
legislators on the committee by 9 to 6. But there could be
defections.
   Even if Wilder's proposal survives the Senate committee vote
Sunday, it faces trouble on the Senate floor. A Republican
alternative has the backing of all 18 Senate Republicans and three
Democrats, which would be a majority of 21 in the 40-member chamber.
The Republican bill would allow multiple purchases if the buyer got
permission from local police.
   The Wilder proposal was approved by a House committee Friday. The
full House will consider the Wilder bill Monday, with a final vote
set for Tuesday. Wilder has predicted that his measure will slip
through the House on a 52 to 48 vote; the NRA is publicly making no
prediction.
   The lobbying on both sides has been well-organized and expensive.
A bipartisan group, Virginians Against Gun Trafficking, has raised
nearly $90,000 for television and radio advertising. One of the