Perhaps unsurprisingly, Democrats in the Virginia House of Delegates unsuccessfully focused on gun control bills vetoed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin out of a reported 157 bills he nixed in what was his final veto session as the Old Dominion chief executive.
The Washington Examiner is reporting that Democrats were unable to override Youngkin’s veto of HB 1607 which would have prohibited the importation, sale, manufacturing, purchasing, or transferring of so-called assault weapons.
Virginia limits its governors to a single term at a time. They may not serve consecutive terms. Republican Lieutenant Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, a Marine Corps veteran, is running hard to succeed him, and she is also considered pro-rights when it comes to the Second Amendment.
According to the Courthouse News, gun control joined voting rights and raising the state’s minimum wage as top-of-the-heap priorities with Democrats, who have a slight majority, as they come back in session. However, the CN acknowledged the slim majority might not play in their favor entirely, and they were right.
Youngkin came into office as a breath of fresh air after Democrats under former Gov. Ralph Northam rammed through several restrictive measures five years ago.
Courthouse News illustrated the divide between Republicans and Democrats in the commonwealth where guns are concerned, by quoting two delegates.
Democrat Dan Helmer, a veteran, complained about Youngkin’s veto of a ban on so-called “assault weapons.”
“These firearms were designed for the battlefield, not for our streets,” Helmer reportedly declared, mouthing an argument that has been made repeatedly by the gun prohibition lobby and its legislative allies.
Republican Nick Freitas, a former Green Beret combat veteran reportedly countered, “The only people in this room terrified of something are apparently our Democrat colleagues, of our own law-abiding citizens. The reason why we have the Second Amendment is not because the founders got back from an especially rigorous hunting trip. The reason why we have the Second Amendment is because our founders recognize that free citizens have to have the means to be able to provide for their own security.”
Voters in Northern Virginia strongly vote Democrat, primarily because many work in government. The south and west parts of the state are traditionally more conservative.
