TRS: Governor Northam's "Assault Weapon" Ban Would Include Rifle That is Favorite of Boy Scouts

The Republican Standard blog has this piece that points out how Governor Northam's "common sense gun safety" proposals would prohibit rifles that are standard for Boy Scout marksmanship training.

Among the bills in the sweeping proposal is one which the governor said, according to his announcement, “modifies the definition of assault firearm to any firearm that is equipped with a magazine that holds more than 10 rounds of ammunition.”

Northam’s proposal would “ban the sale, purchase, possession, and transport of assault firearms in the Commonwealth,” according to the announcement.

The measure is not the same as a magazine capacity restriction, which bans possession of the magazines themselves, depending on capacity. Similar magazine bans were introduced by lawmakers in previous years, and may resurface in 2019.

Detachable magazines are interchangeable on semiautomatic firearms. Consequently, any firearm which accepts detachable magazines is equipped to fire more than 10 rounds in a detachable magazine of varying size, and would be banned.

Detachable magazines are used in common firearms, from the AR-15 to the 10/22, the common .22 rifle used by scouting groups and other youth, which even comes in an edition officially licensed by the Boy Scouts of America.

Also note that Northam's bill would ban not only the sale, but also the possession of, so-called "assault rifles" in the Commonwealth. This means that the Governor would expect the hundreds of thousands of Virginians that own the rifles to turn them in.  Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax campaigned on a platform to confiscate firearms in 2017 so it would not be out of the whelm of possibility for the Governor to pick up that mantle.

In related news, VSSA Life Member and Second Amendment attorney Steve Halbrook told Dana Loesch yesterday that Governor Northam's gun ban proposals are just one more step of trying to "Californacate" Virginia.

If this is not enough to prove that the 2019 General Assembly elections will determine if Virginia's gun owners begin to face what California and New Jersey gun owners already face, nothing will.