“We’re hopeful that if the governor wants to keep Virginia safe that he’ll sign these bills into law,” said Virginia Moms Demand Action volunteer Mike Fox.
Opponents of the AR-15 sales ban have questioned its legality. Proponents say it would ban the sale of “weapons of war” and high-capacity magazines used in mass killings.
After a lengthy discussion in which one GOP member predicted a veto, the Senate passed the legislation on a party-line vote on Wednesday. Last week, a party-line House version passed.
Other gun-control proposals with Democratic support in the General Assembly include bans on assault weapons in public, plastic guns that can't be detected by metal detectors, and concealed carry bans for most people in restaurants and bars. Additional measures would penalize those who leave guns unattended and visible in a car and compel gun buyers to take a firearms safety course or “demonstrate competence” with a handgun.
“We’re hopeful that if the governor wants to keep Virginia safe that he’ll sign these bills into law,” said Virginia Moms Demand Action volunteer Mike Fox.
“Lucia died on a garage floor while I stroked her hair and tried to revive her. Meredith Bremer, Bremer's mother, told a Senate hearing that Lucia died because an adult gun owner left his pistol available to his adolescent
A Senate committee voted 13-0 with two Republican abstentions to pass the bill. When Van Cleave spoke against the bill, Lynchburg Republican Sen. Mark Peake pressed him to meet with gun-rights organizations to compromise.
The Democratic legislative majorities have also rejected several GOP-sponsored gun legislation, including one that would have doubled the required minimum punishment for using or displaying a handgun during certain offenses.
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