Tough new gun control measure surfaces

Some 11 states have similar legislation.

“States with permits see fewer homicides involving firearms and fewer shootings,” said Lori Haas of the Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence.

She said she did not think the permit requirement would infringe upon anyone’s Second Amendment rights to possess guns.

“When gun safety advocates gathered at the Bell Tower, we had to get a permit,” she said. “We needed a permit to exercise our First Amendment right to free speech and freedom to association. … Why is the Second Amendment any different?”

Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, said he had not seen the bill, but added that his gun rights group would oppose any permit requirement.

Hope’s bill will eventually go to the subcommittee, the first hurdle any House bill has to pass on the way to become law. Any gun measures that clear the state Senate would also go through the panel.

On Thursday, meanwhile, the subcommittee backed House Bill 2, sponsored by Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax, that would make it a Class 1 misdemeanor, subject to a year in jail, to own, buy, sell or transfer assault weapons — semi-automatic rifles or pistols with magazines that hold more than 20 rounds.

Semi-automatic firearms are weapons with action mechanisms that automatically load new rounds after firing, but that require a separate pull of the trigger to fire a round.

“These weapons of war should not be for sale in the commonwealth, let alone on our streets,” Helmer said. “They’re shock and awe.”

Van Cleave disputed Helmer’s characterization of semi-automatic firearms as weapons of war.

“What Delegate Helmer carried in Iraq was a machine gun,” he said, referring to Helmer’s Army service.

The proposed ban passed on a 6-4 party line vote, as did virtually all the other gun control bills the panel considered. By a similar margin, the subcommittee killed two measures that would have expanded the ability of people to carry concealed weapons.

The panel also approved a measure, House Bill 22, sponsored by Del. Michael Jones, D-Richmond, that would ban “auto sears” devices, which are designed to convert firearms to automatically fire more than one shot with a single pull of the trigger, as machine guns do. In Virginia, machine guns, and semi-automatics converted for automatic firing, have to be registered with the state police.

In addition, the subcommittee voted to prohibit owning, making or selling plastic firearms — marketed as being undetectable by weapons scanners — as well as unfinished frames and firearms without serial numbers. The bill, House Bill 173, sponsored by Del. Marcus Simon, D-Fairfax, would set a penalty of up to 10 years in prison for a violation.