Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger has signed legislation banning the sale and manufacture of certain semi-automatic firearms, prompting immediate lawsuits from gun-rights groups.
The limits on “ assault firearms,” as they are described by the legislation, are among two dozen new restrictions and regulations on guns enacted by the Democratic governor in her first few months in office. That marks a sharp policy reversal from her Republican predecessor, who had vetoed many similar measures.
“Firearms designed to inflict maximum casualties do not belong on our streets,” Spanberger said in a statement Friday. “We are taking this step to protect families and support the law enforcement officers who work every day to keep our communities safe.”
The new gun restrictions move Virginia closer to the likes of California, Illinois and New York, which similarly have full Democratic control of their legislatures and governors’ offices. They also highlight a continued national divide on gun policy, as various Republican-led states have taken steps to relax firearm restrictions that they describe as an infringement on Second Amendment rights.
I have always wondered how they can ban fully automatic machine guns, but then say that semi automatic assualt rifles can’t be banned while reading the same part of the constitution. They are both “arms”. The constitution doesn’t differentiate. Any differentiation made by the law is adding to what is written, clear as day. So just pick a damn side.
Why…just why?..Dems are just asking to lose midterms. Stop fucking with gun control shit and focus on the goddamn fascist in power.
Spend your political capital on shit that’ll actually make a difference in not just gun but our overall violence numbers.
Raise the minimum wage
Increase education funding
Hire and pay teachers more
Stop techbros from planting DCs everywhere and firing their workers.
End the for profit prison systems
Get single payer healthcare passed
Kick ICE the fuck out of your state
End the war on drugs, which targets minorities the most
Enshrine abortion rights into law
Create proper safety nets for our most vulnerable citizens
Strengthen worker protection rights(unions)
Repeal anti-lgbtq+ laws
There is sooo much they could focus on that would solve our violence in general, but they go for this shit which just pushes away single issue voters and has others scratching their heads wondering wtf they’re doing.
What exactly are they going to try and go to trial for? They’ll still have guns, they just won’t have these really bad ones. What’s the fucking point in going to court over something so pointless? Just live with your stupid guns and STFU. You don’t need assault weapons to live. Get over it.
Those “assault weapons” account for around 150 deaths a year. That’s suicides, cops killing people and all others. They’re in common use and this ban will have zero effect on our gun violence. It’s grandstanding ignorance passing this law.
It’s easier to ban them than it is to fix the actual issue.
I am a fan of making them much harder to obtain. Make it hunting license style or something that you can apply for that requires an evaluation and a gun safety course.
I hope all of this is repealed because it is taking a freedom away from us. I enjoy range day and this is something I’ve enjoyed for many decades and now is being taken away because of what? This won’t stop mental illness from hurting others.
How is banning them not fixing the issue? Less guns means less change of getting killed by a gun
Because 95+% of gun violence is via handguns and not the scary black rifles anti-gun groups say.
What you’re proposing just makes too much sense. But also, if I understood correctly, nothing is being taken away from you. It looks like this would just ban the ability to buy, sell, transfer, and manufacture specific stuff like foregrips, collapsible stocks, and magazines with a capacity higher than 15. What you already have is yours.
I’d like to see gun registration and insurance the way we have for cars. I work with a few gun nuts and it’s fucking ludicrous how many guns they have. One guy has 29. He actively hunts, and he doesn’t just hunt one thing, so I can understand that different tools are built for different jobs and he needs a few to be effective at everything. But realistically he only needs like 5.
If we actually wanted to do something about mass shootings, we would do reasonable gun control legislation like we’re talking about, but as a supplement to destigmatizing psychological help, making healthcare (including mental healthcare) attainable for all, and ensuring basic needs like food and housing are met. Get that shit done and I’ll concede that America is “great again” now. But I’m only hearing a couple of people in office even pretend to be on board with these very basic ideas.
The way it is written now is I can no longer buy a sport .22 pistol because the magazine has the capability of being over 15. This is legal to buy and own in Europe but now illegal in Virginia.
Gun maintenence is a thing. Parts need to be replaced over time. Upgrading or changing out parts is a thing. This is effectively stopping us from replacing certain parts if they break. If I want to sell what I have and buy something else, I can no longer do it.
You can absolutely buy smaller capacity magazines for a .22 pistol.
Yes, gun maintenance is a thing. And yes, you can’t replace the banned parts. I agree that this ban isn’t gonna do anything to change gun violence, but that’s because it doesn’t do much of anything at all. So what if you can’t replace your foregrip or collapsible stock? You still have the gun itself. The only thing this legislation really changes is that people who don’t already have these things won’t get them, and 20-40 round magazines will phase out as they break and can’t be replaced.
You’re partially right that you can’t sell what you have to buy something else. Just remove these aftermarket parts first. The gun itself seems to still be fully legal.
Will it hold up in court? Who knows… Don’t forget she’s vetoing a bill to allow public employees to collectively bargain with the government.
Good, she already raised the minimum wage, the state needs to save up money.
Why shouldn’t they be able to?
