Va.’s Kaine vetoes gun bills, death penalty expansions
By: William C. Flook
Examiner Staff Writer
March 27, 2009
Gov. Tim Kaine has rejected a handful of bills that would have loosened Virginia’s gun control laws and broadened use of the death penalty.
Kaine vetoed bills that would have allowed concealed weapons in bars and restaurants, provided the owner didn’t drink alcohol, have allowed military personnel to buy more than one handgun a month, and have required local governments to auction off guns bought in a buyback program, among other legislation.
The governor also vetoed measures that would have expanded the death penalty to accomplices in capital murder cases — the third year he has done so — and made killers of fire marshals eligible for capital punishment.
The governor, now in the last full year of his term, is opposed to the death penalty, though he has refused to intervene in most of the executions carried out during his tenure.
“Virginia is already second in the nation in the number of executions we carry out,” Kaine said. “While the nature of the offenses targeted by this legislation is very serious, I do not believe that further expansion of the death penalty is necessary to protect human life.”
Openly carrying a handgun in a bar or restaurant is legal in Virginia, while concealed carry isn’t. Two bills would have relaxed that law, one applying to anyone with a concealed-carry permit, the other only for retired law enforcement officers.
Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, faulted Kaine for overriding elected legislators, saying the governor is “trying to get the attention of [President Barack] Obama” through the vetoes. Obama has tapped Kaine to be Democratic National Committee chairman.
“He’s busy buttering up his resume at a time when he should be going the other way,” Van Cleave said. “On all of these bills, the will of the people had spoken, and some of them were by big margins.”
The concealed-carry bill cleared the House on a 66-33 vote last month, and the Senate 22-16.
Virginia lawmakers, who adjourned their 2009 session last month, will return for a short “veto session” April 8 and may attempt to override the governor on some of the bills. Overcoming Kaine’s vetoes will be difficult, however, requiring a two-thirds majority in both houses.
