General Assembly Veto Session Wrap-up

Photo by Richmond Times-Dispatch

Though it is disappointing, it is not completely unexpected that Governor McAuliffe's vetoes of several firearm related bills were upheld, as attempts in both the House and Senate fell one or more votes short of an override.  Here is how the Virginian Pilot described it:

At veto ceremonies, Gov. Terry McAuliffe often calls himself the “brick wall” against what he calls bad bills delivered by the Republican-controlled General Assembly.

GOP lawmakers didn’t have enough sledgehammers to break down that wall Wednesday during a one-day session in which lawmakers handled budget amendments and addressed the governor’s vetoes.

And now, McAuliffe is the most successful brick wall in Virginia history – 111-0 in vetoes.

That’s 21 more vetoes in an administration than Gov. Jim Gilmore’s 90 in the late 1990s.

McAuliffe also takes the single-year record with 40, beating Gilmore’s 37 vetoes in 1998.

Votes were largely along party lines on the 40 vetoed bills, but some Democrats did join with Republicans in a few votes.  The one bright spot was McAuliffe's attempt to reinstate handgun rationing failed.  Unfortunately, the underlying bill, SB1023 will likely be vetoed now that the substitute was returned as being unconstitutional.  Governor McAuliffe said after all of the firearm bill vetoes were upheld:

“We blocked bills that would have injected firearms into volatile domestic violence situations, making victims less safe, not more. Others would have created an unwarranted expansion of persons allowed to carry concealed handguns, including service-members considered by the military as unqualified to bear arms to be issued a concealed carry permit.

“While we successfully stopped legislation that would have threatened the safety of Virginians, I am disappointed that the General Assembly did not reinstate Virginia’s One-Handgun-a-Month law. The legislature’s ill-advised step to repeal this common-sense policy has made Virginia a go-to state for criminals to purchase weapons in bulk again. You needn’t look further than the 627-count gun-trafficking indictment earlier this month that included 22 Virginians. One of those suspects even bragged on a police wiretap about how easy it was to acquire guns in Virginia. By preventing the reenactment of this rule, Republicans have ensured the Commonwealth will continue a negligent approach to preventing gun crime.”

The Second Amendment related bills that were vetoed are:

HB1432/SB1347 Switchblade knife; exception to carry concealed.
HB1582/SB1362 Concealed handgun permits; age requirement for persons on active military duty.
HB1852/SB1299 Concealed handguns; protective orders.
HB1853/SB1300 Victims of domestic violence, etc.; firearms safety or training course.

SB1023, a bill that limited the sharing of concealed handgun permit holder information with states that do not have reciprocity with Virginia, was amended in the nature of a substitute to reinstate handgun rationing and was an effective veto as McAuliffe knew it was not going to be approved.  Because the State Senate ruled the change to the originating bill was unconstitutional, it now goes back to the Governor where he will likely veto the underlying bill.  McAuliffe has previously vetoed similar legislation.

Yesterday illustrates how important it is that gun owners band together to elect a pro-gun governor this year.  We have passed a number of pro-rights bills in the last four years only to see them vetoed by McAuliffe.  Now is the time to elect a pro-rights Governor, Lt. Governor, and Attorney General so that we can go on offense in the next General Assembly and pass into law the bills that McAuliffe has vetoed, as well as pass other pro-rights legislation.