The Virginia Senate tackled several bills addressing acts of violence. And, after lengthy debate, Senators likely killed a measure that would have allowed Virginia to use electrocution as a form of execution, if necessary.
The Senate also gave preliminary approval to a measure to penalize so-called “celebratory gunfire.”
Not only are lethal injection drugs more scarce, but some studies suggest that they may not be effective, resulting in suffering by the condemned person. The bill would allow use of the electric chair as a default method if lethal drugs are not available. Senator Frank Wagner argued that lawmakers should decide one way or another.
The Senate advanced a bill to impose a five-to 40-year prison term for firing a gun shot into the air that results in the death of another person. The bill was prompted by the killing of a seven-year-old Chesterfield boy, who was hit by a stray bullet shot into the air on the Fourth of July last year.