RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Bills which would ban the sale of assault weapons have passed in both the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates — and both will go to the other chamber for a vote.
Both bills would ban the purchase, possession, transfer and sale of assault rifles in Virginia. The House bill would also make possession of an assault weapon a Class 1 misdemeanor, which comes with a fine of up to $2,500 and up to a year in jail.
Phillip Van Cleave, president of the gun-rights advocacy group Virginia Citizens Defense League, told 8News he believes that the real assault has been on lawful gun owners like himself.
“[Banning assault weapons is] not going to stop crime,” said Van Cleave. “That’s like taking all the sober drivers off the road and expecting drunk drivers to suddenly stop driving drunk. It doesn’t work that way.”
Andrew Goddard, the Virginia Center for Public Safety’s Legislative Director, says otherwise. He told 8News he felt the need to speak out about gun violence when his son was shot several times during the shooting at Virginia Tech in 2007.
“We shouldn’t live be in a society that lives in fear of going to the supermarket, or going to the theater, or going any place and being mowed down by someone with a military-style gun,” said Goddard.
Goddard said the likelihood of one of the bills being vetoed by Governor Glenn Youngkin is high, but it doesn’t mean Virginia legislators shouldn’t try.
If [Youngkin] wants to represent the people of Virginia, he has to think about what the people of Virginia really want,” said Goddard.
Any bill would have to be passed by both the Virginia Senate and House of Delegates before heading to Youngkin’s desk to be signed into law.
