Virginia assault weapons bill halted

Gun-rights supporters celebrate Monday outside a meeting of the Virginia state Senate Judiciary Committee in Richmond. Committee members had just killed a bill that would have banned the sale of assault-style weapons and the possession of high-capacity magazines.
(AP/Richmond Times-Dispatch/Bob Brown)
Gun-rights supporters celebrate Monday outside a meeting of the Virginia state Senate Judiciary Committee in Richmond. Committee members had just killed a bill that would have banned the sale of assault-style weapons and the possession of high-capacity magazines. (AP/Richmond Times-Dispatch/Bob Brown)

RICHMOND, Va. -- A Virginia Senate committee blocked a bill on Monday that would have banned the sale of assault-style weapons and possession of high-capacity magazines.

The measure had been a top priority for Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat and former Army doctor who served in Operation Desert Storm and often remarks that he's "seen firsthand what weapons of war do to human beings."

The bill was part of a package of eight gun-control measures Northam advanced after a shooter killed 12 people at a Virginia Beach municipal building on May 31. Republicans' refusal to act on those bills last summer, in a special session that they gaveled out in 90 minutes, became a rallying cry for Democrats in November elections. Democrats took the majority in the state House and Senate for the first time in a generation.

The House has passed all eight of Northam's bills, but several Democrats in the less-liberal Senate have quashed three of them amid fears that the newly empowered party might overplay its hand. The same tension has been playing out on other fronts, with the Senate taking a more cautious approach on issues such as the minimum wage, collective bargaining and state budgeting.

After learning Friday that the bill would be up for a vote, Public Safety Secretary Brian Moran; House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax; and gun-control advocates spent the weekend trying to win over wavering Democrats -- or at least persuade them to delay action.

Filler-Corn, who publicly challenged the Senate to pass all eight bills in a speech Saturday, was sharply critical of the vote.

"The Democratic platform last fall was very clear," she said in a statement. "Limiting access to weapons of war used in mass murder was a key part of that platform. The House of Delegates delivered on our promise to take action to keep those weapons off our streets. To call today's vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee a disappointment would be an understatement."

Lori Haas, a prominent Richmond gun-control advocate whose daughter was wounded in the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007, was angry. "They've lost my trust, and they've lost the trust of the voters," she said.

Four Democrats -- Sens. Creigh Deeds of Bath, John Edwards of Roanoke, Chap Petersen of Fairfax and Scott Surovell of Fairfax -- sided with Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee to reject the assault-style weapons bill for the year. On a 10-5 vote, the committee sent the measure to the state's Crime Commission for study.

"Bunch of wimps," Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, said from the dais, referring to the four.

David Majure, a gun-rights supporter who attended the committee hearing, said he's glad about Monday's results but not convinced the bill is dead for the year.

"I'm happy about it, but I don't trust them," he said.

The governor's spokeswoman, Alena Yarmosky, said he's disappointed with the result but determined to continue to press for the measure.

"We will be back next year," she said.

SALES, TRANSFERS

Sponsored by Del. Mark Levine, D-Alexandria, the measure would have prohibited the sale or transfer of those firearms beginning July 1 and outlaw possession of the magazines six months later, on Jan. 1.

As originally introduced, the bill would have banned all possession of assault-style weapons, forcing owners to give them up. But the House Public Safety Committee modified it to prohibit only sales and transfers. Anyone who legally owned those guns before the law took effect would be allowed to keep them.

The measure took a harder line on magazines that hold more than 12 rounds and on bump stocks, banning their sale and possession. Bump stocks, attachments that make a gun fire more rapidly, are already subject to a federal ban.

Senators did not debate the merits of the bill before voting. Deeds noted that there were "a lot of questions" about the definition of assault-style weapons before moving to wait on the bill for the year. Democratic supporters tried to counter with a motion to delay action for a day, but Deeds prevailed.

"A lot of us were very uncomfortable with the details," Petersen said later, noting that the bill would have made possession of legally-purchased magazines a crime. "We've passed so many guns bills this year. Why is it now, there's this sudden litmus test? ... We suddenly got all this urgency from the speaker's office that we have to pass this bill."

Deeds said in an interview that the bill's magazine limits could have applied to some long rifles and handguns that "I don't think anybody really intended to criminalize."

"AK-47s or AR-15s -- I think they're impractical and I can't imagine that people really need to own those things. In fact, they are weapons of war," Deeds said. "But when you're trying to define that as a matter of code, you've got to be really careful."

The bill defined "assault firearm" as any semiautomatic, centerfire rifle or pistol with a fixed magazine capacity greater than 12 rounds. It also would have applied to any semi-automatic, centerfire rifle or pistol that can accept a detachable magazine and also has one of several other features, including: a folding or telescoping stock; a second handgrip or a protruding grip that can be held by the non-trigger hand; a grenade launcher, flare launcher, silencer or flash suppressor.

'SANCTUARY' DRIVE

The bill was the most controversial part of Northam's gun-control agenda, with gun-rights activists warning that the state was planning to confiscate firearms. Since the election, more than 110 Virginia counties, cities and towns have passed some type of "Second Amendment sanctuary" resolution, many of them asserting that local officials will not enforce laws they consider unconstitutional. Gun-rights activists staged a rally on Capitol Square in January, drawing heavily armed militias from across the country.

The House has approved the governor's other seven gun-control bills, which would:

• Enact universal background checks on private gun sales.

• Require an owner to report the loss or theft of a firearm within 24 hours.

• Give local governments the authority to ban weapons from public buildings and at certain events.

• Create a "red flag" law, or extreme risk protective order, under which authorities can temporarily seize firearms from someone deemed a threat to themselves or others.

• Limit handgun purchases to one per month, a policy that was in effect in Virginia until 2012.

• Tighten the law prohibiting access to firearms for someone subject to a protective order.

• Make it a felony to "recklessly" leave a firearm within reach of anyone age 18 or younger, up from the current age of 14, a measure known as "child access prevention."

The Senate has passed five of the governor's bills. Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw, D-Fairfax, withdrew his own assault-style weapons bill, which had caused an uproar because it would have banned possession, not just sales. The chamber's bill on lost or stolen firearms was rejected in a floor vote, with Petersen and Sen. Lynwood Lewis Jr., D-Accomack, voting against it. Its version of the child-access prevention bill died in committee, with Petersen and Deeds joining Republicans in opposition.

"Despite today's vote, the governor is proud of the several common-sense gun safety measures that continue to advance," Yarmosky said. "These bills represent historic steps forward in keeping Virginians safe from gun violence. Make no mistake -- they will save lives."

With the assault-style weapons vote looming, Filler-Corn had tried to put pressure on Senate Democrats in her speech at a party gala headlined by Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg. The gun-control group the former New York mayor founded, Everytown for Gun Safety, counts itself as the largest outside donor to Virginia Democrats last year, with $2.5 million in direct and indirect spending.

"Gov. Northam, you gave us eight common-sense gun violence prevention bills," she said in her speech. "In the House of Delegates, we passed every single one -- eight for eight. Let's get this done."

Information for this article was contributed by Laura Vozzella of The Washington Post and by Alan Suderman of The Associated Press.

A Section on 02/18/2020

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