Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s assertion this month that the state’s gun laws are already strong enough for his liking isn’t deterring Democrats from moving forward with major proposals limiting access to firearms.
Policymaking committees in both chambers of the General Assembly have started to advance significant gun control bills while defeating Republican efforts to repeal existing gun restrictions and make guns legal to carry in more places.
On both sides of the legislature, bills to prohibit future sales of assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines have passed out of committee on party-line votes. So have bills to ban so-called “ghost guns,” untraceable firearms assembled at home often with do-it-yourself kits that can be purchased online.
Other bills have been introduced to impose a five-day waiting period for all firearm purchases, require buyers to prove competency through gun safety courses, create a $500 civil penalty for leaving a handgun visible in an unattended vehicle, remove gun rights from anyone who gets two DUI convictions within five years, prohibit existing assault weapons from being carried in public and require state-issued permits prior to any gun purchase.