Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment says he's spiking his gun-control legislation, only a day after proposing to ban guns in all government buildings statewide.
Norment's statement says he'll ask that Senate Bill 4013 be stricken in committee, because "as currently drafted, the legislation represents neither my views nor my intention."
He says he won't support "any measure that restricts the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens."
The reversal comes after Senate GOP majority whip Bill Stanley resigned to protest Norment's bill. Norment then apologized to his caucus and moved to reinstate Stanley to his key leadership post. Stanley was the only one of his Republican colleagues to vote against himself.
Earlier Tuesday, Sen. Bill Stanley told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he's resigned as majority whip of the GOP Senate caucus after Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment sponsored legislation to implement a broad ban on government buildings.
Norment's legislation caught both Republicans and gun-control advocates off guard. His GOP colleagues immediately pushed back. They say it's an infringement on the rights of law-abiding citizens to prevent them from carrying guns into government buildings.
Norment is married to a lobbyist for the city of Virginia Beach, where a municipal worker gunned down his co-workers in a mass shooting.
