"The reelection of Alexandria Circuit Court Judge Alfred D. Swersky was a run-of-the-mill legislative item until this week, when it caught the eye of Virginia's most powerful lawmaker and leading gun rights advocate, House Speaker S. Vance Wilkins Jr.

In an otherwise routine public hearing on judicial nominations, Wilkins (R-Amherst) grilled Swersky for more than an hour Wednesday about the judge's January 1999 ruling upholding the city of Alexandria's 1995 ban on firearms at municipal work sites.

Wilkins said in an interview today he wanted to hear Swersky's response to his concerns that the judge may have overstepped his authority in upholding the city policy.

Wilkins also said it was unlikely that he will derail Swersky's reelection to another eight-year term on the bench, but the speaker's unusual personal interest sent tremors through House Democrats, who said they feared that past rulings in gun-related cases could become litmus tests for reappointment to judicial posts.

In Virginia, judges are confirmed to the various levels of the state bench by votes in the House of Delegates and state Senate. Although the judicial elections often stir intense local interest, they are for the most part routine items on the regular calendars of the General Assembly's two chambers.

'I don't like activist judges who want to make the law on their own,' Wilkins said.

Swersky did not return several telephone calls to his office.

In his ruling three years ago, Swersky said the Alexandria city manager had the authority to 'control and regulate the use and management of all property of the city.'

Viola Lawson, the city manager at the time, had ordered the firearms ban in January 1995 shortly after a shooting in front of a city recreation center.

Wilkins, the author of a 1989 state statute that generally prohibits localities from regulating the ownership or possession of firearms, said Swersky's ruling appeared at first glance to undercut the General Assembly's wishes on preserving gun rights.

'The intent of the legislature was pretty clear,' Wilkins said. 'In the face of that, he made his ruling.'

Wilkins conceded that the judge's supporters were correct in asserting that there are conflicting portions of the Virginia legal code, one of which probably grants a judge the latitude to uphold a city manager's order such as Lawson's.

Del. Terry G. Kilgore (R-Scott), a leading member of the Courts of Justice Committee that must send Swersky's nomination to the full House, said the judge 'is going to be fine. He answered the questions very ably. I don't think he had any axes to grind or an agenda he was advancing.'

A Circuit Court judgeship pays $123,027 annually. Swersky, 60, a former federal prosecutor, was appointed judge in 1985 by then-governor Charles S. Robb (D). Swersky is one of the most popular judges in Northern Virginia and has been mentioned as a leading candidate for the federal bench." (R.H. Melton, The Washington Post, January 25, 2002).