RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A Republican-led Virginia House panel did not hear testimony on four gun control bills Thursday in an act of retaliation against a Democratic state senator who refused to let a GOP delegate address her bill hours earlier.
As expected, the House of Delegates Public Safety subcommittee voted down the measures from Democratic state senators.
The bills would have set restrictions on new assault weapon sales, strengthened gun storage laws, tightened gun bans on college campuses and rules on firearm transfers by those ordered to give up their guns after a domestic violence conviction or under a protective order.
After the Republican-controlled panel approved the first bill it heard Thursday afternoon, a GOP-sponsored bill, the subcommittee’s chair, Del. Nick Freitas (R-Culpeper), told the room he wanted to “recap” what happened that morning.
Del. Freitas said in the committees he’s served on the custom has been to allow lawmakers to present their bills even if they are similar to others the panel has heard before.
“That courtesy was not extended today in Senate Ed and Health, where we watched a whole series of bills that you would be even hard-pressed to call them similar, in some cases, that died without the patron so much as being given the courtesy of speaking to their own bill,” he said.
In response, Freitas did not allow testimony on four Democratic-sponsored measures that he said met the same criteria of “identical or similar” that state Sen. L. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) described during the Virginia Senate Education and Health Committee meeting.
Sen. Lucas, chair of the Education and Health Committee, said Thursday morning the panel would take up House bills identical and similar to ones already heard in the Senate and “only hear from patrons if it is absolutely necessary.” She said it would allow members to efficiently handle the volume of proposals referred to the committee.
The Senate panel moved through the docket quickly and without objection from Republicans until state Sen. Mark J. Peake (R-Lynchburg) asked Lucas whether Del. Margaret B. Ransone (R-Westmoreland) could share why her bill was different from one proposed by a Democrat the committee rejected earlier in the legislative session.
Sen. Peake said Del. Ransone’s bill was different, which Lucas also acknowledged, and that the delegate was in the room to speak on the proposal.
“It was explained when Senator Spruill’s bill was presented and the bill was passed by indefinitely and as you noticed in my remarks I said there would be no testimony unless absolutely necessary so we’re going to follow the dictates of the committee,” Lucas responded before the panel killed the measure.
The committee eventually rejected a bill from Freitas, but no members called for a discussion on the measure before the party-line vote.
“I don’t know how this place works if one house or maybe specifically one person decides that they’re not going to extend the same civility and courtesies to us that they expect,” Del. Freitas said hours later in the House subcommittee meeting.
Del. Clint L. Jenkins (D-Suffolk) urged Freitas to reconsider, telling him the House panel should “take the high road and set the standard and give those bills a fair hearing.”
Freitas decided against it, telling Jenkins and the three Democrats who came to present their bills that the panel would only recommend tabling the measures so they could possibly be revived by the full committee.
“I think in this case not sending a clear message that civility and process needs to be reciprocated encourages, again probably an individual, to continue to do the same thing,” Freitas said. “And what we really need is for both sides to understand that regardless of where they come down on individual issues, it’s necessary to hear both.”
The House panel did hear testimony on four gun-related bills from Democrats, including a proposal to ban so-called ghost guns. Those bills were also voted down by the subcommittee.
“I’ve heard the Republicans are mad I killed their bills to restrict abortion so they are killing our bills on gun safety,” Sen. Lucas responded on Twitter. “So as I understand — if we don’t let them take away rights from women they will make sure more people get shot?”
On Friday, Del. Freitas presented the subcommittee report to the House’s full Public Safety Committee. His report only included the initial Republican bill that the subcommittee approved, which the full committee advanced.
