Virginia: House Committee Hearing Anti-Gun Bills Tomorrow

[Charlie T Waite]

On January 24^th at 8AM, the Virginia House Public Safety Committee will be hearing a number of anti-gun bills. As with the Senate, the committee may take action on these bills immediately after hearing them. Please call committee members and ask them to OPPOSE the gun control bills before them. Contact information for the committee is here and below.

House Committee Room
January 24^th, 8AM
900 E Main St.
Richmond, VA 23219

Chairman Patrick Hope, (804) 698-1047
Vice Chairman Jeffrey Bourne, (804) 698-1071
Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy, (804) 698-1002
Del. Nick Rush, (804) 698-1007
Del. Sam Rasoul, (804) 698-1011
Del. Ronnie Campbell, (804) 698-1024
Del. Tony Wilt, (804) 698-1026
Del. Roxann Robinson, (804) 698-1027
Del. Joshua Cole, (804) 698-1028
Del. Kenneth Plum, (804) 698-1036
Del. Kaye Kory, (804) 698-1038
Del. Daniel Helmer, (804) 698-1040
Del. Mark Levine, (804) 698-1045
Del. Alfonso Lopez, (804) 698-1049
Del. Matthew Fariss, (804) 698-1059
Del. Thomas Wright, (804) 698-1061
Del. Carrie Coyner, (804) 698-1062
Del. Clinton Jenkins, (804) 698-1076
Del. Glenn Davis, (804) 698-1084
Del. Shelly Simonds, (804) 698-1094
Del. Marcia Price, (804) 698-1095
Del. Amanda Batten, (804) 698-1096

 

House Bill 2 and House Bill 335 criminalize private transfers of firearms without first paying fees, with limited exceptions. Most transfers between friends, neighbors, or fellow hunters are not be exempted. These proposals would have no impact on crime and are completely unenforceable.

House Bill 9 victimizes gun owners who suffer loss or theft of their property with a fine if they don’t report a lost or stolen firearm within 24 hours of discovering them missing.

House Bill 421 allows local governments to enact their own gun control ordinances, potentially resulting in a patchwork of laws and the Second Amendment not being equally protected across the state.

House Bill 72, House Bill 463, and House Bill 1083 severely restrict parental decisions about firearms in the homewhile attaching excessive penalties for violations.

House Bill 674 allows the seizure of an individual’s firearms on baseless accusations without a hearing or other opportunity for the person to be heard in court. It permits the government to seize firearms based on weak evidence and nebulous standards of evidence.

A person subject to a suspension of a Constitutional right should be entitled to high evidentiary standards, an opportunity to be heard, and the right to face his or her accusers. Civil liberties advocates from across the political spectrum have expressed concerns these “red flag” bills  and how the procedure might lead to abuses of the process because of insufficient due process protections in the bill.

House Bill 812 and House Bill 1502 would arbitrarily ration an individual’s right to lawfully purchase a handgun to once within 30 days.

Again, please call committee members and ask them to OPPOSE these bills.