Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam on gun violence legislation

Lt, Gov. Ralph Northam released the following statement on the recently announced bipartisan legislation to reduce gun violence.

“I applaud Governor McAuliffe and Republican and Democratic leadership in the General Assembly for coming together to work out this agreement. And, I thank Attorney General Herring for his leadership in enforcing our existing gun laws and advancing commonsense solutions to prevent gun violence.

“Research has found that a gun in domestic violence situations increases homicide risk for women by 500 percent. I am grateful that Republicans and Democrats came to the table to address this serious public safety issue. The bipartisan legislative package detailed today will keep guns away from domestic abusers and people who can’t pass background checks.”