Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin may soon be considering a bill that would ban assault-style weapons in Virginia.
Senator Creigh Deeds of Charlottesville has a bill that would ban assault-style weapons in Virginia. It's now on the agenda for the Senate Finance Committee after a party-line vote in the Senate Committee for Courts of Justice. One of the supporters of the bill was Virginia Rovnyak of the Charlottesville Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence.
"Why wouldn't the police officers run in at Uvalde? Because they’re afraid that the shooter would have one of these assault weapons and mow them down," Rovnyak said. "They're very frightening weapons, and we should not have them."
Andrew Goddard at the Virginia Center for Public Safety is also a supporter.
"These firearms were manufactured, advertised and sold for a type of reason that should not be available to a civilian, especially an untrained civilian," said Goddard. "These are not weapons that are necessary for personal defense."
Opponents of the bill include Phillip Van Cleve at the Virginia Citizens Defense League.
"AR-15s are the most common rifle right now in America and have been for quite a few years," Van Cleve said. "So it's definitely a common use."
The ban on assault-style weapons was one of several bills on a gun docket for the Senate Committee for Courts of Justice. The senators on the panel also approved a bill that would ban ghost guns and they rejected a bill that would ditch Virginia's red flag law. They were all party-line votes.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
