Members of the General Assembly are moving new gun violence legislation to the governor's desk.
Leaving a gun unattended in a car could cost you $500. That's the idea behind a bill passed by the Senate on a party-line vote this week.
"It has to do with the scourge, and I don't say that lightly because it is a scourge, of guns being stolen in unattended vehicles," says Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell. "Thousands and thousands of these are being stolen per year in our state."
Republican Senator John McGuire of Goochland County says people wouldn't have to stash their guns in their cars if it weren't for all the gun violence prevention measures.
"The only way to stop a bad person with a gun is a good person with a gun," McGuire says. "And we keep infringing on these unconstitutional gun bills, and they're like, ‘You can't have it in this building and you can't have it so many feet from this building.’ So, if you are trying to protect yourself, you leave it in your car. You wouldn't need this bill if you would allow people to carry their gun."
On the other side of the Capitol in the House, delegates are sending a bunch of gun bills to the governor. The bills would limit where you can carry an assault-style rifle, ban ghost guns and extend the waiting period for buying a firearm. Governor Youngkin says Virginia’s gun laws are already tough enough, so he seems unlikely to sign any of those bills.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
