The sponsor of an “assault weapons” ban in Virginia said he fears that the rejection of his bill Monday by a state Senate committee will lead to “mass murder.”
In a tweet following the lopsided 10-5 rejection of his legislation, Washington area Del. Mark Levine tweeted, “Senate Committee voted to study assault weapons bill for another year. We already know weapons of war don’t belong on our streets. I fear mass murder with these weapons between now and then, but I am proud of House of Delegates for doing what we could. We will be back.”
Senate Committee voted to study assault weapons bill for another year. We already know weapons of war don’t belong on our streets. I fear mass murder with these weapons between now and then, but I am proud of House of Delegates for doing what we could. We will be back.
— Mark Levine (@DelegateMark) February 17, 2020
He added in a tweet response to newly-installed House Democratic Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, “We will be back.”
Gun advocates in the state took that as a warning and issued their own warning to supporters, urging them to keep up the fight to retain their weapons targeted by the Democrats, many of whom received funding from anti-gun presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg.
“We dare not get complacent again. We are far from being out of the woods. Red Flag laws, Universal Background Checks, and destruction of the firearms preemption law are still very much alive this year,” said the Virginia Citizens Defense League.
Levine’s legislation, passed in the State House, would have banned the sale of AR-style rifles after July 1.
He has spent months whipping up anger at the guns and even issued a much-criticized notice that claimed the guns were “created by Nazi Germany; Modern version legalized by the GOP.”
