NRA-ILA | Virginia: Gun Control Hearings Continue

Virginia Democrats continue their brazen assault on the Second Amendment in both chambers of the General Assembly. On Wednesday, January 28^th, the Senate Courts of Justice Committee will hear legislation to impose a “permit to purchase” scheme and legislation designed to regulate the firearm industry out of Virginia. Then on Thursday, January 29^th, the House Public Safety – Firearms Subcommittee will hold a hearing on a litany of gun control bills, including bans on semi-automatic firearms, standard capacity magazines, and legislation creating a “permit to purchase.”

Please contact members of these committees by using the TAKE ACTION button below and urge them to OPPOSE all gun control in their committees.

Bills in the Senate Courts of Justice Committee include:

Senate Bill 797 and Senate Bill 643 establish a “permit to purchase” scheme in Virginia, requiring individuals to acquire a “firearm purchaser license” issued by the Department of State Police.

Senate Bill 27 creates sweeping new standards of “responsible conduct” for members of the firearm industry, including manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. The bill requires these businesses to establish and implement vague and subjective “reasonable controls” over the manufacture, sale, distribution, use, and marketing of firearm-related products. Further, it establishes a broad civil cause of action, allowing the Attorney General, local government attorneys, or private individuals to sue firearm businesses for injunctions, damages, and costs. This is a direct attack on the firearm industry and are designed to regulate the industry out of existence through litigation—despite longstanding federal protections.

Senate Bill 364 establishes a “Virginia Gun Violence Prevention Center” with the stated goal of being “the primary resource for research, best practices, and strategies for the implementation of firearm violence intervention, community-based intervention, and group violence intervention programs designed to reduce violence in communities.”

Bills in the House Public Safety Committee include:

House Bill 19 expands prohibiting categories for certain misdemeanor crimes.

House Bill 21 creates sweeping new standards of “responsible conduct” for members of the firearm industry, including manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. The bill requires these businesses to establish and implement vague and subjective “reasonable controls” over the manufacture, sale, distribution, use, and marketing of firearm-related products. Further, it establishes a broad civil cause of action, allowing the Attorney General, local government attorneys, or private individuals to sue firearm businesses for injunctions, damages, and costs. This is a direct attack on the firearm industry and are designed to regulate the industry out of existence through litigation—despite longstanding federal protections.

House Bill 40 ends the centuries-old practice of individuals building lawful firearms for personal use without government interference by prohibiting the manufacture of firearms without serial numbers. Transfer and possession of an unserialized or plastic firearm would be prohibited. This legislation would also penalize individuals who lawfully purchased unfinished frames and receivers before the bill’s effective date.

House Bill 110 places further restrictions on the ability for a law-abiding individual to keep a firearm in their vehicle for self-defense. 

House Bill 217 bans certain semi-automatic firearms, including many semi-automatic rifles, pistols and shotguns, and arbitrarily limits magazine capacities. This bill is an attempt to redefine and ban firearms that are in common use by law-abiding citizens—plain and simple gun confiscation by definition.

Please stay tuned to the NRA-ILA website and your inbox for updates as this legislative session continues.