On Monday, lawmakers in Virginia geared up to hear a number of bills related to gun control. If signed into law, they would allow localities to pass their own gun control laws and a red flag law.
Two of the bills that the committee voted on included one that would grant localities the authority to make their own gun control laws. Another one would be able to stop someone from buying or transporting a firearm if they have a “substantial risk of injury to themselves or others.”
Here's what some local sheriffs had to say about it:
A bill that would require a background check from any firearm transfer was also set to be discussed. This means that anyone who sells a firearm without getting a background check first would be guilty of a class six felony.
At the end of the day, all but one of the bills passed through the committee. Most of these bills were passed substitutions or modifications made to them. Next, they'll head onto the full Senate Committee.
House Bill 1288 was the only bill shot down. This would have prohibited a person who has been convicted of certain domestic violence related crimes from having a gun.
This comes just a week after lawmakers voted to shoot down a ban on assault weapons. At the same time, they also signed a bill which limits the amount of handgun purchases per month to one.
Gun-rights supporters were concerned that the bill to give localities control over where firearms are allowed would cause more confusion, doing more harm than good. One of these supporters, Candy Eubank, spoke out, “Criminals do not obey the laws. If you start changing the rules of each locality we'll never know what's right and wrong from one county line to the next county line.”
To see the full docket, head to Virginia's Legislative Information System.
