In the four months since a gunman massacred 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school, a deep national divide over how best to control gun violence left states scrambling in opposite directions to find a solution.

No where is that division more pronounced than along the banks of the Potomac River. Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley last week celebrated the legislative approval of his sweeping new restrictions on military-style guns and high-capacity magazines. Across the river in Virginia, lawmakers wrapped up their legislative session recently after killing off every gun restriction proposed.