Senator Tommy Norment and Speaker of the House Kirk Cox refused to do their jobs last month when they adjourned the Gun Violence Prevention Special Session without any votes after just 90 minutes. Instead, they punted all the bills to a toothless Crime Commission that cannot vote on any legislation, but will make “recommendations” for when the General Assembly comes back for a lame duck session after the elections in November. People who live in our communities refuse to accept one more tragedy and become numb to the senseless gun violence occurring in the Commonwealth. We can’t wait until November. We need action now to pass meaningful, common sense legislation like universal background checks, banning assault rifles, and other bills that will keep our communities safer.
Virginians Overwhelmingly Support Gun Violence Prevention Measures
Not only is passing legislation to prevent gun violence the right thing to do, it is also overwhelmingly popular with voters from all parties.
- 94% of Virginia voters support requiring background checks for all gun buyers, with 90% of Republican voters supporting the measure.
- 62% of Virginia Voters support reinstating the one-handgun-a-month law.
- 49% say it’s too easy to buy a gun in Virginia
- 66% of Virginiansbelieve that new gun laws will not interfere with the right to own guns.
- 54% of Virginians support stronger gun laws in the commonwealth
A Vote For Adjournment Is A Vote For The Gun Lobby
Republicans in the General Assembly are too scared of the corporate gun lobby to take real action on gun violence prevention. If Republicans think they have good bills, they need to fight for them to get a hearing and a vote. Anyone who voted to adjourn Gun Violence Prevention Special Session without a single vote isn’t serious about stopping the senseless deaths that are the result of gun violence in our country.
Voters Have No Faith Crime Commission Will Produce Results
Republicans have made it clear over and over again that they will not take action to prevent gun violence. They blocked common sense gun violence prevention bills during the regular General Assembly Session this year including a universal background checks bill, a ban on assault firearms, an “extreme risk protective order”, and reinstating Virginia’s one-handgun-a-month law. Then when they were called back for a special session to address the issue, they made sure to collect their paychecks, but immediately adjourned without doing anything.
So voters are going to make sure that never happens again. They are canvassing, attending town halls, and spreading the word that legislators like Senator Glen Sturtevant and Speaker Kirk Cox won’t do their jobs and pass legislation to prevent gun violence. They don’t have time to come to useless meetings that won’t produce results when they are busy working to elect people who will get the job done when they take office in January.