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In a rush to beat a Tuesday deadline, the Virginia House Democrats passed a bill banning possession of “assault”-style weapons by innocent Virginians, including the popular AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle.
The bill also makes it a felony (punishable by up to five years in jail) to import, sell, transfer, manufacture, purchase, possess, or transport “large capacity magazines, silencers, and trigger activators [bump stocks].” In addition, the bill also forbids any formerly law-abiding Virginian from carrying a shotgun with a “magazine that will hold more than seven rounds of the longest ammunition.”
It further infringes on rights of Virginians by requiring formerly law-abiding citizens owning the soon-to-be outlawed firearms to obtain a permit to possess them “in accordance with procedures established in the bill.”
The bill now moves to the Democrat-controlled Senate, where passage is expected.
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Democrats used the mass shooting that took place in Virginia Beach in May 2019 as cover for their egregious infringements of the Second Amendment. Missing from any of the arguments supporting the bill was the fact that the Virginia Beach Municipal Center where the shooting took place was designated a “gun-free zone.”
Also missing was any mention of the fact that police officers, once at the scene, were unable to enter the building promptly due to “safety procedures” in effect to keep perpetrators out. This gave the shooter, a disgruntled former employee who still possessed his security card, plenty of time to enter the building and attack and murder his helpless and defenseless victims before being cut down by those officers.
Also missing from the conversation was the story of Kate Nixon, a public utilities engineer working in the building at the time. She noted the peculiar behavior of the shooter the day before the rampage and talked with her husband that night about bringing a firearm into the building to protect herself, but decided against it because of the “gun-free zone” rule. Nixon’s attorney said she discussed with her husband “whether or not she should take a pistol and hide it in her handbag” but decided against it because of the city policy that prevents employees from bringing firearms to work.
It’s pure speculation, of course, whether the events of May 31, 2019 would have turned out differently had she ignored the rule and used the firearm to neutralize the shooter before he could inflict greater harm.
At the other end of the political and common-sense spectrum is the state of Wyoming. Legislators there are working on passing a bill to repeal most “gun-free zones” in the state, including government buildings, schools, colleges, universities, and public sporting events.
Bloomberg-funded Democrats in control of the Virginia legislative process (both houses and the governor’s mansion) have little interest in saving lives or reducing gun violence. Instead, their focus is on disarming law-abiding gun owners. This exposes their real intentions and agenda: turning the once safe state (presently Virginia is the fourth-safest state in the country) into a “gun-free zone” — a state where armed criminals will be able to roam free to commit atrocities similar to the one in Virginia Beach in 2019 without concern over their victims being able to defend themselves.
Image: artas via iStock / Getty Images Plus
An Ivy League graduate and former investment advisor, Bob is a regular contributor to The New American, writing primarily on economics and politics. He can be reached at [email protected].
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How Will Virginia’s New Gun-control Laws Be Enforced?
Virginia Democrats Pass New Gun-control Bills in Order to “Save Lives”
