State lawmakers consider gun bills

RICHMOND, Va. (WDBJ) – Every year, supporters of gun rights and advocates for gun control square off at the State Capitol. And this year is no different.

But for the first time since Gov. Glenn Youngkin took office, some of those measures could reach his desk.

It’s been four years since thousands of gun rights supporters rallied in Capitol Square. We don’t expect a demonstration of that size this year, but the issue continues to fuel debate in Richmond.

This week, members of the House Public Safety Committee considered bills from both sides.

A proposed ban on assault style weapons and high capacity magazines stirred strong comments Thursday evening.

Lori Haas is the Virginia Director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.

“These are weapons of war,” Haas told the committee members. “They have no place on our streets. They have no place in a civil society. And whatever you call them, we need to ban them and regulate them.”

Philip Van Cleave is President of the Virginia Citizens Defense League.

“The Supreme Court’s already said any firearm in common use is protected,” Van Cleave said. “AR-15s for example are the most common rifle right now. There are like 30-million of them out there!”

The committee passed the assault weapons ban on a party line vote.

And although it still has a long way to go, it could end up on Governor Youngkin’s desk.

“There’s no question that the Governor will have to address the legislation and especially the magnitude and the number of them,” said WDBJ7 political analyst Bob Denton.

While Governor Youngkin is a supporter of second amendment rights, and would be expected to veto measures like the assault weapons ban, Denton said the governor might have some “wiggle room” on the full range of gun bills.

“Perhaps in some of the public safety (measures), access to guns by felons, and different things like that, perhaps there would be legislation that he would be open to consider,” Denton said.

There was at least one gun bill that found broad bipartisan support: legislation prohibiting the manufacture, importation or sale of auto sears, devices that can convert firearms into automatic weapons.

It passed the public safety committee on a unanimous vote.

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