Virginia lawmakers reject assault weapons ban

Fox News

RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam‘s push to ban the sale of assault weapons has failed after members of his own party balked at the proposal.

Senators voted to shelve the bill for the year and ask the state crime commission to study the issue, an outcome that drew cheers from a committee room packed with gun advocates. 

Four moderate Democrats joined Republicans in Monday’s committee vote, rejecting legislation that would have prohibited the sale of certain semiautomatic firearms, including popular AR-15 style rifles, and banned the possession of magazines that hold more than 12 rounds.

The bill was a top priority for Northam, a Democrat who has campaigned heavily for a broad package of gun-control measures.

The legislation also engendered the biggest pushback from gun owners and gun-right advocates, who accused the governor and others of wanting to confiscate commonly owned guns and accessories from law-abiding gun owners. Northam has said repeatedly he does not want to confiscate guns, but argued that banning new sales of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines would help prevent mass murders.

Virginia is the current epicenter of the country’s heated debate over gun control and mass shootings. Tens of thousands of gun-rights activists from across the country flooded the state Capitol and surrounding area in protest, some donning tactical gear and carrying military-style rifles.

Northam has been able to get much of his gun-control agenda passed this year, but struggled with the proposed assault weapon ban. Earlier proposals to ban possession of AR-15-style rifles or to require owners to register them with state police have been scrapped. The governor had hoped a watered-down would win over enough Democratic moderates for passage.

An estimated 8 million AR-style guns have been sold since they were introduced to the public in the 1960s. The weapons are known as easy to use, easy to clean and easy to modify with a variety of scopes, stocks and rails.

Lawmakers in both the House and Senate have already advanced several other gun-control measures and should finalize passage in the coming days. Those bills include limiting handgun purchases to once a month, universal background checks on gun purchases, allowing localities to ban guns in public buildings, parks and other areas, and a red flag bill that would allow authorities to temporarily take guns away from anyone deemed to be dangerous to themselves or others.

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/virginia-lawmakers-reject-assault-weapon-ban

7 thoughts on “Virginia lawmakers reject assault weapons ban

    1. Phil Van Cleave VCDL
      @VCDL_ORG
      “The defeat of HB 961 was a group effort, uniting gun owners inside and outside Virginia. There are many, many people and organizations to thank for today’s victory and VCDL thanks all of them and all of you for doing your part.”
      They are celebrating Maritst.

      1. They are model “citizens”, aren’t they?

        serfs ever so grateful for a crumb from the feast of freedom WE are supposed to enjoy.

        They did their part, alright. They ALL supported tyranny and communism.

        F those spineless faggots, one and all.

      2. They didn’t pass it because they can’t enforce it, and it hasn’t a goddamn thing to do with the teeny handful of incorporated controlled opposition.
        We’ve said it all along. It is the individual free nationals that make up the 75% that they know will wipe their ass out if they try it.
        Reminds me of books I’ve read about Stalin, Trotsky, and Lenin sleazing in to claim that their little handful of communists won the battles fought against the Czar by the people. And of course if the people lost, they ran and hid and waited for the next opportunity for their pathetic little numbers to oy somebody else’s victory.
        All of these groups are incorporated, are the enemy, and will be tried right along with the rest of the international communists, both Ds and Rs.

  1. Wow, comments here have laid naked their game, especially this one:

    “They didn’t pass it because they can’t enforce it…”

    Pure and simple. They’ve no authority!!

    Some are likely dancing the victory dance, all while their masters mock their false sense of freedom.

    Yeah, a tossed “crumb,” but a crumb helps nothing when it’s soaked in suppression.

    .

  2. What did I miss? The state of criminal Virginians wanted to usurp people’s rights with ink on paper? Wow. Lol
    Just think of 20,000+ people holding ar15 and ak47 in the street. What an optic.
    Burn baby burn.

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