By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Democrat Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s amended SB749 to ban so-called “assault weapons” was rejected by the General Assembly Wednesday and returned the original bill unchanged, so she can either sign the bill, veto it or allow it to become law without her signature.
The state is facing a threat of legal action by the U.S. Department of Justice for Second Amendment violations over gun control legislation.
According to a report from USA Carry, other measures have been adopted, including bills (HB871 and SB348) regarding firearm storage requirements; legislation regarding the carry of “assault firearms” in public (HB1524) and “universal background checks” (HB1525), which was added to a bill regarding the transportation of certain firearms by young adults in the 18-to-20-year age group.
Is it a significant reversal? Not necessarily, since Spanberger is expected to sign the original legislation, according to Delegate Dan Helmer, a Fairfax Democrat quoted by VPM News. He is the sponsor of HB 217, the House version of the “assault weapons” bill. He told VPM the important thing is that Virginia now has a governor willing to sign gun control legislation, which former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin would not. He expressed confidence the semi-auto ban bill will become law.
Whether the bill becomes law may not matter so much as the threatened legal action by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. She sent a sharply-worded letter to Spanberger on April 13, declaring, “This letter provides formal notice that the Civil Rights Division will commence litigation in the event the Commonwealth of Virginia enacts certain bills that unconstitutionally limit law-abiding Americans’ individual right to bear arms.”
Dhillon’s letter to Spanberger garnered quick approval from gun owners in and beyond Virginia. It is the first time in memory that the Justice Department has taken pro-Second Amendment positions on gun control legislation in the states.
In her letter, Dhillon stressed to the governor, “The Second Amendment protects the rights of law-abiding citizens to own and use AR-15 style semiautomatic rifles for lawful purposes…This Civil Rights Division will seek to enjoin any attempt to infringe the right of law-abiding Virginians to acquire constitutionally-protected arms that are possessed by literally tens of millions of Americans.”
Dhillon’s letter concludes, “The Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens shall not be infringed.”
Many people are now theorizing Spanberger offered an amended version of the gun ban bill just to delay Assembly action until after Tuesday’s vote on redistricting, which narrowly passed. The redistricting map tilts the state’s congressional districts 10-1 in favor of Democrats, but a judge has already voided the vote. According to Law Commentary, “Judge Jack Hurley ruled that the proposed constitutional amendment and the legislative steps used to advance it were ‘void ab initio’ and ordered state officials not to certify the results of the April 21 special election or take any action to implement new congressional district maps.” Hurley is a judge in the Tazewell County Circuit Court.
