State of Virginia Archives: on Gun Control

Justin Fairfax: Spoke for strong gun control after Virginia Beach shooting

Ralph Northam: More deaths due to guns than car accidents: so let's act

In comparison, that's more deaths due to gun violence than the 956 Virginians who died due to vehicle accidents in 2017.

We have recognized that we have a problem with road safety and vehicle deaths--and we have acted together to prevent future ones [such as] the Executive Leadership Team on Highway Safety, and efforts to strengthen our Move Over law, aimed at protecting our first responders.

If we are able to agree that we need to act when we have a problem with highway safety and preventable deaths, then surely we can agree to work together to keep more Virginians alive by improving gun safety. This has to be a dialogue--that's a two-way exchange of ideas.

This year I'm proposing we act to approve an "extreme risk law." It creates a legal way for law enforcement and the courts to temporarily remove firearms from someone who has shown dangerous behavior, and who poses a risk to themselves or others.

Ralph Northam: Supports universal background checks

• Keeping families safe from gun violence by requiring background checks for every firearm purchase.
• Finally raising the threshold for felony larceny from $200 to $1000 so that one mistake does not ruin a person's entire life.
• Cut carbon and create clean energy jobs

Terry McAuliffe: Supports universal background checks

• Keeping families safe from gun violence by requiring background checks for every firearm purchase.
• Finally raising the threshold for felony larceny from $200 to $1000 so that one mistake does not ruin a person's entire life.
• Cut carbon and create clean energy jobs

Terry McAuliffe: Restore the one handgun a month law

I have proposed several common sense bills aimed at keeping Virginians safe from gun violence without infringing on the rights of responsible, law abiding citizens. These proposals will keep guns out of dangerous hands by

• closing the gun show loophole;
• preventing violent criminals and domestic abusers from obtaining fire arms;
• revoking concealed carry permits from those who do not meet their legal obligation to pay child support; and
• curtailing gun trafficking by restoring the one handgun a month law.

Don Beyer: Close gun show loophole; ban high capacity magazines

We need enhanced background checks now. Too many criminals, & those who are dangerously mentally ill, can obtain firearms at gun shows. We have to close the gun show loophole, which allows people to purchase guns without background checks. I can't understand why the NRA opposes enhanced background checks, but we need to make this a priority. I also favor banning high capacity magazines. These magazines, in the hands of dangerously mentally ill people, have caused tragedy after tragedy.

Ed Gillespie: Fight UN gun ban treaty, & fight bans on guns or ammunition

The ad could have unintended consequences for Gillespie, who secured the nomination in part by courting tea party conservatives--but who is now trying to woo more-moderate general-election voters. Gillespie risks alienating the electorate in vote-rich Northern Virginia who may be turned off by Second Amendment rhetoric, especially after mass shootings at Virginia Tech in 2007 and an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., in 2012.

[In the NRA flyer], a smiling Gillespie appears alongside his pledge to "strongly oppose and fight against" Obama's "anti-gun nominees for the US Supreme Court," a UN gun ban treaty, any bans on guns and ammunition, a federal gun registration database and government approval for gun sales among friends and family.

Mark Warner: Restrict but don't ban high-capacity magazines

Warner has a complicated relationship with gun issues. In 2008, the NRA gave him an A--a grade the group says has expired; new rankings will come out soon. After the Newtown shooting, Warner declared his support for some gun-control measures and said: "There's got to be a way to put reasonable restrictions, particularly as we look at assault weapons, as we look at these fast clips of ammunition."

Yet four months later, his votes tell a different story. He voted against bans of high-profile assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and he supported efforts to protect gun owner privacy and grant rights to carry concealed weapons across state lines.

He did, however, vote for an unsuccessful compromise that would have expanded background checks for firearms purchases.

Robert Sarvis: Gun-control measures fail to reduce violent crime

Gun violence and violent crimes have declined dramatically over the last two decades. If we want to reduce gun violence and violent crime further, the first place to look is our drug laws. Drug prohibition, like alcohol prohibition before it, has produced well-financed, well-armed, violent criminal enterprises.

I also object to the Republican Party's attempts to get the information of all concealed-carry permit holders in Virginia. Republicans claim to be in favor of freedom, gun rights, and privacy, but this once again shows that the GOP's self-interest comes before the rights of the people.

George Allen: Instant criminal records check on all gun purchases

George Allen: Endorsed by NRA for record of defending Second Amendment

The NRA is America's leading organization promoting gun safety education and the Second Amendment with more than 70,000 current members nationwide. Allen said he is pleased with the endorsement. "It's a most significant honor to receive the important endorsement of the National Rifle Association (NRA), a great American organization with so many patriotic, active members throughout Virginia. The NRA supports law enforcement professionals, gun safety education and stands strong for our foundational Second Amendment rights. I have always been proud to support the natural rights of law-abiding citizens to protect their families and themselves. "In the U.S. Senate I will remain committed to defending our rights enshrined in our Constitution," said George Allen.

Jamie Radtke: Oppose the Clinton-Feinstein gun ban

This Thursday the NRA endorsed Allen for the U.S. Senate citing his "stellar record of defending the Second Amendment" and protecting the Constitutional right to bear arms. Radtke disputes this saying she has been to numerous gun shows all over the Commonwealth and the sentiment is overwhelming: "we don't need six more years of George Allen."

"Something is wrong when you have to lobby George Allen to make sure he votes right on guns," Radtke told the Examiner. "He caved in in an election year and declared his support for the Clinton-Feinstein gun ban. Need I say more?"

Jamie Radtke: Second Amendment avoids infringement on civil liberties