A progressive agenda on gun control hit a Republican wall at the state capitol Monday. But new Governor Ralph Northam says he won’t stop pushing for laws to prevent gun violence.
Standing before a crowd of anti-gun advocates during a large rally on capitol grounds, Northam says common sense laws could save lives.
“Things like bump stocks, things like universal background checks, things like one gun a month, things like banning weapons of war,” he said to the crowd.
But just hours earlier most of those proposals were dealt a major blow when Republicans on a key Senate committee voted them down. They also voted against legislation to allow localities to ban guns at rallies.
“You know why they did it first thing in the morning? First day of the session? To demoralize us, to make us cynical, to make us go away,” said Josh Horwitz with the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.
Advocates, though, say they’ll keep fighting. Virginia’s bicameral legislature means the measures still have a shot in the House of Delegates.
Republican opponents say the proposals are too broad and could infringe on the legal rights of gun owners.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
