Virginia Democrats push controversial gun control bills through Senate committee

Democrats in the House of Delegates will instead focus on House Bill 961, a slightly weaker bill with similar language, that would allow Virginians to keep their assault rifles if they register ownership with the Virginia State Police.

Senate Bill 240, a controversial red flag law allowing courts to remove guns from Virginia citizens if they are deemed to be a “substantial risk,” passed through the committee with a vote of 9 to 5. Members voted along party lines to combine Senate Bills 22 and 69, which would mandate that Virginians can only buy “one gun a month.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee, under the leadership of Democratic state Sen. John Edwards, adopted new rules that mandated equal representation of activists in the committee chamber as swarms of pro-gun supporters were turned away to make room for gun control proponents sporting “Mom’s Demand Action” T-shirts. Mom’s Demand Action is a “grassroots movement of Americans demanding reasonable solutions to address our nation’s culture of gun violence.”

The votes came after Republican state Sen. Mark Obenshain attempted to push the committee meeting to Wednesday because Republican state Sen. Bill Stanley was unable attend the Monday session.

“Sen. Stanley has a trial in federal court in North Carolina, and because of that, he asked Sen. Edwards if he would agree not to have these four or five bills placed on the docket on Monday,” Obenshain told the Washington Examiner. “Sen. Edwards said, ‘That is fine, I promise you I won’t put them on the agenda.’ Late on Friday, the bills were added to the agenda for today, notwithstanding the fact that assurance was given and promises were made that they would not be.”

“So, this morning, I simply asked the chair to reconsider and to honor the commitment he made to one of the members and just to put them off until Wednesday until we have a full compliment there. It was not to delay it; it was simply to make sure that the full committee was there and that a commitment that was made to one of our members was honored,” he continued.

Obenshain said he has “every expectation” that House Bill 961 will pass. “I am confident that we haven’t seen the last of HB961 and I am confident that they will reintroduce it and that they will make it a priority,” said Obenshain.

The bills will now be sent to the Virginia Senate, where they are expected to pass the Democratic majority, before being sent to the House of Delegates and finally signed into law by Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam.

Northam pushed back against claims that Virginians will have their Second Amendment rights infringed upon by the proposed legislation.

“The pieces of legislation that we’re offering is to keep guns out of prohibitive hands,” Northam told WHSV. “It’s very simple. They’re constitutional, and they support the Second Amendment.”

“An absolutely incredible turnout by @NRA members in Richmond today,” the NRA tweeted. “In contrast, abysmal showing by Moms Demand and anti-gun groups. Bloomberg has billions to buy politicians BUT @NRA members have the will to fight harder.”

The gun control bills have caused a fiery debate between gun rights proponents and gun control activists in recent weeks, with a state senator claiming Second Amendment supporters have “mental issues” and thousands of gun owners pledging to fight the legislation. Tens of thousands of gun rights activists are expected to turn out for the Virginia Citizens Defense League gun rally outside the State Capitol on Jan. 20.

[Read more: Virginia gun store says firearms, ammunition, and magazines flying off shelves with upswing in cash purchases]