These are among the bills that were approved today, descriptions thanks to VCDL:
HB 9, Bourne, must report stolen or lost guns within 24 hours. Passed by a 14 to 7 vote.
HB 421, Price, lets localities create their own gun control. Destroys preemption. Passed by a 12 to 9 vote.
HB 674, Sullivan, Red Flag bill, passed by a 12 to 9 vote.
HB 1004, Mullen, no gun rights during protective order, passed by a 19 to 2 vote.
HB 1083, Hayes, a class 6 felony for leaving a loaded unsecured gun where anyone under 18 has access. Passed
out of committee by a 12 to 9 partisan vote.
HB 812, Ward, zone Handgun a Month, passed out of committee by a 12 to 9 vote. No exemption for permit holders.
HB 2, Plum, universal background checks, passed out of committee by a 12 to 9 vote.
Some of VCDL’s counts are different from what the VA House website at the link above reports. For instance, VCDL says HB 9’s vote was 14-7, but the House website says 15-7. Same with HB 421 and HB 674. But on the crucial point of whether or not the bills were actually approved by committee and will now advance to the House floor, both sources agree.
The “red flag” bill, HB 674, was reported by a 13-9 vote. Voting in favor were: “Hope, Bourne, Plum, Kory, Lopez, Rasoul, Price, Levine, Carroll Foy, Helmer, Cole, J.G., Simonds, Jenkins.” A quick look at the list of Virginia House Democrats says that all of those voting in favor were Democrats, and all of those opposed were Republicans.
We need to give the Virginia Democrats credit for excellent party discipline. Unfortunately that discipline is directed at enacting anti-constitutional laws.
A few things to note. First, the Virginia Senate Democrats have already approved their version of the “red flag” bill in a floor vote earlier this week, so there’s clearly lots of support for it. Second, Democrats have been remarkably quiet on whether it’s even necessary given Virginia’s extensive existing law. Third, if Monday’s Lobby Day in Richmond, Va., was intended to convince Democrats to vote in a pro-2A direction, it did not accomplish that goal. Though I suspect it stiffened Republicans’ resolve and helped to reduce GOP defections in an anti-constitutional direction like those that happened last week in Florida.
These are among the bills that were approved today, descriptions thanks to VCDL:
Some of VCDL’s counts are different from what the VA House website at the link above reports. For instance, VCDL says HB 9’s vote was 14-7, but the House website says 15-7. Same with HB 421 and HB 674. But on the crucial point of whether or not the bills were actually approved by committee and will now advance to the House floor, both sources agree.
The “red flag” bill, HB 674, was reported by a 13-9 vote. Voting in favor were: “Hope, Bourne, Plum, Kory, Lopez, Rasoul, Price, Levine, Carroll Foy, Helmer, Cole, J.G., Simonds, Jenkins.” A quick look at the list of Virginia House Democrats says that all of those voting in favor were Democrats, and all of those opposed were Republicans.
We need to give the Virginia Democrats credit for excellent party discipline. Unfortunately that discipline is directed at enacting anti-constitutional laws.
A few things to note. First, the Virginia Senate Democrats have already approved their version of the “red flag” bill in a floor vote earlier this week, so there’s clearly lots of support for it. Second, Democrats have been remarkably quiet on whether it’s even necessary given Virginia’s extensive existing law. Third, if Monday’s Lobby Day in Richmond, Va., was intended to convince Democrats to vote in a pro-2A direction, it did not accomplish that goal. Though I suspect it stiffened Republicans’ resolve and helped to reduce GOP defections in an anti-constitutional direction like those that happened last week in Florida.