Ban on Sales of Assault Weapons Advances in Virginia

For 26 years Virginia Republicans put the profits of gun manufacturers and the wants of gun rights extremists over the safety and desires of the majority of Virginians.  After the gun massacre in Virginia Beach last May, Governor Northam called a special session of the General Assembly to consider gun control legislation.  The Republican majority arrogantly ended the session in less than 90 minutes with no discussion of proposals.  Democrats campaigned for the 2019 Virginia elections on a promise to pass the gun control legislation that most Virginians want and the voters handed them control of the legislature.  Now, Democrats are delivering on that mandate despite the shrill screams of the NRA, a front organization for gun manufacturers with a history of accepting Russian money to interfere in American elections, and white supremacist "militia" groups. The Washington Post looks at the advancement of a ban on assault weapons.  Here are excerpts:

RICHMOND — A bill banning the sale of assault-style weapons and possession of high-capacity magazines cleared a House committee Friday, drawing such an angry reaction from gun rights activists that the panel’s chairman had Capitol Police clear the room.

Sponsored by Del. Mark H. Levine (D-Alexandria), the measure would prohibit the sale or transfer of those firearms beginning July 1, and outlaw possession of the magazines six months later, on Jan. 1, 2021.

The legislation initially would have banned all possession of assault 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 takes a harder line on magazines that hold more than 12 rounds and on bump stocks, banning their sale and possession.
 The bill is perhaps the most controversial part of an eight-bill package of gun-control legislation that Gov. Ralph Northam (D) backed after a shooter killed 12 people in a Virginia Beach municipal building on May 31.
 “As an army doctor, Governor Northam has seen firsthand what weapons of war do to a human body,” his spokeswoman, Alena Yarmosky, said in a statement. “This bill will save lives in Virginia, and the Governor is glad to see it advance.”
 Democrats won their majorities on a promise to enact sweeping gun control, including universal background checks and a purchase limit of one handgun a month.
 While most of the gun-control measures backed by Northam are sailing through the legislature on party-line votes, the fate of the assault weapons bill in the full House is uncertain; at least a few Democratic delegates voiced concern about the original version earlier this year.
 The measure would also have to clear the Senate, where Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax) last month scrapped his own assault weapons bill, which was not part of Northam’s package and would have banned possession of those firearms.
 Brian Moran, Northam’s secretary of public safety and homeland security, urged the committee to back the bill.  “Assault weapons are not protected by the Second Amendment because they’re weapons of war. . . . They’re not protected, just like machine guns before them,” he said. “The court will uphold this legislation. You just need to pass it.”

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 enact gun laws of their own, such as banning weapons in public buildings.

●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.”