Governor Terry McAuliffe has proposed amendments to Senate Bill 1023 that would restore Virginia’s One-Handgun-a-Month law that was repealed by Governor McDonnell in 2012.
McAuliffe’s statement on the amendments:
“Today I have sent down an amendment to a bill on my desk which will restore Virginia’s One-Handgun-a-Month law. The law, enacted in 1993 by then-Governor L. Douglas Wilder, was repealed by the Republican-controlled House and Senate in 2012 and signed by Governor Bob McDonnell. The amendment will once again make it illegal to purchase more than one handgun in a 30-day period by Virginia residents and out-of-state purchasers.
“One-Handgun-a-Month was enacted almost a quarter century ago to counter Virginia’s shameful reputation as the gun-running capital of the East Coast. Five years ago, the General Assembly took the ill-advised step of repealing this common-sense limitation. As a result, Virginia is once again becoming the go-to state for criminals to purchase weapons in bulk.
“The 627-count indictment earlier this month of 24 individuals – 22 of them Virginians – as part of a gun trafficking ring that brought over 200 weapons up the I-95 corridor to New York City, highlights the need to restore One-Handgun-a-Month. One of the suspects was recorded boasting, I can go get 20 guns from the store tomorrow. “I can do that Monday through Friday . . . They might start looking at me, but in Virginia, our laws are so little, I can give guns away.”
“My amendment will make it a Class 1 misdemeanor for any person other than a licensed firearms dealer to purchase more than one handgun within a 30-day period. The restoration of One-Handgun-a-Month, which is offered as an amendment to Senate Bill 1023, is a major step forward in making Virginia a safer place and ending its role in the proliferation of firearms up and down the East Coast.”
Attorney General Mark Herring offered the following statement on the proposed amendments:
“This is a great step to restore a commonsense measure that never should have been repealed in the first place. Virginia’s weak gun laws make it too easy for guns to get into the hands of criminals, making our families, communities, and especially our law enforcement officers less safe, not to mention the heartbreak and damage these guns cause in neighboring states. When you’ve got gun runners on tape bragging about how weak our gun laws are it should be a pretty clear signal that something needs to change.”
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