New gun-safety laws will be radically changing Virginia’s approach starting July 1st.
Governor Ralph Northam put his signature on seven gun control bills the General Assembly sent him last month, fulfilling a campaign promise to crack down on the epidemic of gun violence. The bills expand background checks, create a red-flag law and restore the state’s one-handgun a month limitation.
Northam says this issue is personal to him.
“I took care of wounded soldiers during Desert Storm, and I have always said that we do not need weapons of war on our streets," the governor says. "If anybody thinks that they are needed I would ask them to go into a mass casualty tent and get a glimpse of what these weapons of war do to human beings.”
Shannon Watts at Moms Demand Action says these new laws will help change the national debate on gun control.
“The NRA is weaker than it has ever been, and our organization is stronger than it has ever been," she says. "In fact, the same day the NRA announced layoffs and salary cuts this week, our organization announced we’ll be spending $1.5 million to register new voters for the upcoming election.”
Gun control advocates didn’t get everything they wanted, though. Efforts to create a ban on assault-style weapons went nowhere this year. And a new law on background checks allows guns to be transferred without one, raising concerns about a possible new loophole.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
