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Virginia Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin was sent several gun control measures by Democratic lawmakers in the state, including safe storage laws and waiting period mandates.
Democrats passed a provision that would force any firearm owner with children to store their weapons in a locked box or container or else face the potential for criminal penalties.
Virginia Republican Delegate Nick Freitas argued against the legislation, observing that his teenage daughter could be forced to defend herself while he is not home, since he lives “in a rural area where the police will probably not get to my house in fifteen to twenty minutes.”
Democrats also advanced a bill to establish a five-day waiting period before someone can impulsively buy a firearm, a provision that Philip Van Cleave, the president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, contended is actually meant to stop firearm purchases at gun shows.
“You can buy it there, but you have to wait five days, but the show is over,” he described. “Now you have to drive to wherever that dealer is to get your gun. It could be across the state.”
Youngkin was similarly sent a number of gun control provisions last year, ultimately vetoing the vast majority of the bills approved by the Democrats. The chief executive meanwhile signed legislation to ban auto sears, which increase the firing rates of semiautomatic weapons.
“I swore an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of Virginia, and that absolutely includes protecting the right of law-abiding Virginians to keep and bear arms,” Youngkin remarked last year. “I am pleased to sign four public safety bills which are commonsense reforms with significant bipartisan support from the General Assembly.”
Everytown for Gun Safety, a prominent gun control organization, criticized Youngkin for his decision, noting that he vetoed “measures that would have prohibited the future sales and purchases of assault weapons, prohibited the public carry of assault weapons, prohibited the carry of firearms on college campuses, required secure storage for firearms, and more.”
