Virginia may be a late arrival to the anti-Second Amendment party thrown by a handful of states, but it is quickly catching up with its colleagues in suppressing gun rights.
Even as Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) saw a stack of gun control bills arrive on her desk, she was not satisfied. Last week, she sent dozens of proposals back to the Virginia House demanding changes that would make already egregious proposals significantly worse.
Now, lawmakers will reconvene in Richmond this week to consider Spanberger’s amendments, which a simple majority may approve. With the current legislature’s makeup, that is all but certain.
Governor clearly was not satisfied with the initial 2A infringements
Among the bills Spanberger kicked downstairs were SB749 and HB217. These prohibit “assault firearms” and standard ammo magazines with a fixed capacity of more than 15 rounds.
A person charged with carrying a weapon equipped with a magazine able to hold over 15 rounds could face up to a year in prison if convicted of the class 1 misdemeanor.
Wide array of popular features targeted by Virginia’s anti-gunners
A spokesperson for the governor’s office responded to a query about the amendments. They described their roles as to “provide additional clarity to law enforcement as it relates to the firearms included under this legislation, as well as protect the use of certain semi-automatic shotguns used for hunting.”
According to House Delegate Wren Williams (R), the amended bill would ban all semi-automatic rifles with detachable magazines, as well as another specific feature.
Those may include a “folding stock, pistol grip, thumbhole stock, grenade launcher, flare launcher, silencer, flash suppressor, or forward pistol grip.” Reasonable people may disagree on the value of a grenade launcher, but otherwise, these are rather common features of popular sporting rifles.
Semi-automatic pistols with two or more of the listed features would also be classified as “assault firearms” and banned.
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