West Virginia’s novel “machine gun bill,” technically Senate Bill 1071, died a premature death in the state Senate on Friday. The measure would allow law-abiding citizens to acquire machine guns from state police offices.
But Senate President Randy Smith (R) exercised his legislative authority last week and ushered the proposal into oblivion—for now.
Senate leader believed bill had virtually no chance of becoming state law
Smith partially blamed outsiders for the bill’s demise, calling it “a poorly drafted piece of legislation provided by a gun rights group who, to my knowledge, has never been active in the West Virginia Legislature prior to this bill.”
He claimed that his opposition to SB 1071 was rooted in knowing that the measure would ultimately fail.
The Senate leader released a statement citing conversations with Second Amendment advocacy groups as the basis for his rejection.
Smith consulted with 2A advocates before killing the measure
“Based upon these conversations, I alone decided that the Senate would not take up the bill for further consideration,” Smith declared. “I did so with no reservation. With an issue as critical as the protection of our Second Amendment rights, we must ensure the legislation we pass will survive legal challenge. This would not have.”
Smith recalled consulting with West Virginia’s National Rifle Association and the West Virginia Citizens Defense League. He said in statements that the groups realized the bill would not make it through the House of Delegates and, if it somehow did, it would face strong legal challenges.
Supporters introduced the measure on the last possible day for submission. It would have made these weapons available to West Virginia residents who qualified.
Proponents intended to establish the Office of Public Defense as a section of the State Police. Officials would supervise machine gun transactions and distribution to enhance public safety.
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