Marathon Evening Judiciary Meeting Advances Two Additional Gun Control Bills in Senate, House Public Safety Will Meet Friday

Wednesday's meeting of Senate Judiciary began at approximately 4:30 PM and ran until 9:00 PM with the two gun related bills on the docket coming at the end of the agenda.  This wasn't to try and out last pro-rights supporters but simply because they had to take up bills with a fiscal impact for referral to Finance ahead of next week's crossover.  The two bills that advanced are:

S.B. 67 Reporting lost or stolen firearms; civil penalty. Requires that, if a firearm is lost or stolen from a person who lawfully possessed it, such person shall report the loss or theft of the firearm to any local law-enforcement agency or the Department of State Police within 24 hours after such person discovers the loss or theft or is informed by a person with personal knowledge of the loss or theft. Violation is a civil penalty of $250.  This bill basically further victimizes the victim of a theft.  The bill reported 7-6 with Democrat Senator Chap Petersen voting no on the bill.  Please contact Senator Petersen and thank him for his vote.

S.B. 543 Firearms shows; mandatory background check. This bill makes the voluntary background check for private sales at gun shows mandatory.  With the passage of SB70, not sure why this bill is necessary but the patron said there is no guarantee  that SB70 will become law so he wanted to make sure this was made mandatory. The bill was reported 8-3

House Public Safety Committee will meet tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m., House Committee Room (Pocahontas Buliding). While the agenda has not been posted yet, we do know that the bills heard in subcommittee on Tuesday will be on the agenda.  One of those is HB264.  The bill as introduced would remove the option of completing the training required to apply for a concealed handgun permit (CHP) through online courses.  As amended in committee however, it removes the options of completing the training through an NRA Certified instructor and instead only allows the following:

• completing any hunter education or hunter safety course approved by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries or a similar agency of another state;
• completing any firearms safety or training course or class available to the general public offered by a law-enforcement agency, institution of higher education, or private or public institution or organization or firearms training school utilizing instructors certified by the Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS); 
• completing any law-enforcement firearms safety or training course or class offered for security guards, investigators, special deputies, or any division or subdivision of law enforcement or security enforcement,   
• presenting evidence of equivalent experience with a firearm through participation in organized shooting competition or current military service or proof of an honorable discharge from any branch of the armed services,  
• completing any in-person firearms training or safety course or class conducted by a state-certified instructor, 
• completing any governmental police agency firearms training course and qualifying to carry 48 a firearm in the course of normal police duties; or
• completing any other firearms training that the court deems adequate

Please contact members of the committee and urge them to oppose this bill.  Please be sure to point out that as amended, this bill would severely hamper the ability of individuals in rural areas to obtain training as well as require shooting ranges that teach firearms training to totally re-certify their staff by gaining state certification through the DCJS.

Other bills that we know are going to be on the agenda tomorrow are:

HB600   Family day homes; storage of firearms. This bill requires family day homes (in-home childcare etc) to have firearms unloaded and ammunition locked up separately when in operation.

HB1288 Firearms; purchase, possession, etc., following two or more misdemeanor convictions.

HB1499 Virginia Gun Violence Intervention and Prevention Fund; created.Reported 8-0 (The Senate version of this bill was amended to remove the reference to guns)

VSSA lobbyist Rich Savage also said to expect HB961 to be on the agenda.  HB961 is Governor Northam's bill to ban modern sporting rifles like AR-15s but would also ban many commonly owned handguns simply because they are capable of holding a magazine that holds more than 10 rounds.  To keep firearms already owned you would have to register them.  There would be no provision however to keep magazines and suppressors that would be banned by the bill.  Please contact members of the committee and urge them to oppose the bill.  If you can attend the meeting, please do so.  You will need to arrive early to insure you can get into the committee room.  The Pocahontas building opens at 6:00 AM.

Finally, bills on third reading in the Senate today are:

SB 64 Paramilitary activities; penalty.
SB 71 Firearms; possession on school property.
SB 684 Firearms; appellant to seek restoration of rights, etc.