Richmond, VA — Most Americans would agree that this has been a bad year. But Virginia’s gun owners have been living a nightmare since last November already. The November election gave the Democrats the upper hand, and the gun control legislation just poured into Richmond.
Despite more than 20,000 gun owners showing up for rally day on January 20th, the democrats pushed their gun control through and passed almost a dozen new gun laws.
New Laws Starting July 1 Include:
- One handgun a month. This is reinstating a law from 1993 that was passed to stop weapons trafficking into Washington D.C.. The law was scrapped in 2012 because it was shown that it didn’t have the desired effect on stopping Washington D.C.’s gun crime — because almost none of the guns police recovered had originated in Virginia. But hey, if it didn’t work the first time, it’s SURE to work this time!
- Report Lost Or Stolen Guns Within 48 Hours or face a fine of $250. This law is aimed at stopping gun traffickers — who say they ‘lost’ their gun and that’s how it ended up in a criminal’s hands. But there are already laws against gun trafficking that would apply in those cases instead of adding more regulation to law-abiding citizens!
- Cities and counties can restrict guns as they deem fit. This new law gives city councils and boards of supervisors to authority ban guns in government buildings and areas such as public parks, recreation or community centers, or outdoor areas being used during permitted events. Notices must be posted everywhere that the locality deems firearms to be prohibited.
- Universal Background Checks — All gun sales must go through a background check. This not only creates a de facto gun registry — but so far, the law doesn’t have exemptions for selling your gun to your son-in law or a cousin or a longtime family friend, etc. Heck, if Grandpa wants to give his hunting shotgun to his grandson….he has to do a background check first!
- Red Flag law — Any police officer or Commonwealth’s attorney can file a fourteen day ‘Emergency Risk Protection Order’ and have somebody’s guns taken away before they’ve committed a crime, been charged, or had the right to defend themselves in court. Only AFTER the guns have been taken can the citizen give a defense — and that’s at his own expense. Our Grandparents wouldn’t recognize this America.
- Child care facilities designated as “family day homes” must lock any firearm in a safe or cabinet during hours of operation. The idea that American gun owners are leaving their guns laying around in their in-home daycare is just absurd.
- If a gun owners leaves their loaded gun where children under the age of 14 can get to it, the penalty is increasing. Previously a Class 3 misdemeanor which carried just a $500 fine, this is now a Class 1 misdemeanor and would carry jail time. So if your 13-year-old son and you are heading to the shooting range and you leave a loaded weapon on the kitchen table while you gather supplies to go and your liberal aunt swings by….jail time.
- Trigger activators, designed to make semi-automatic firearms shoot more than one shot with the pull of the trigger, will be banned starting July 1, and possessing or selling one is a felony. Oddly enough, nobody is banning Nitrous Oxide, even though it’s purpose is to increase the speed and acceleration of cars — which kill far more Americans every year than gun violence. No leftists are trying to ban knife sharpeners either, even though those increase the efficacy of knives. But we digress. The examples of their inconsistent thinking could take all day.
- Gun safes that cost $1,500 or less will be exempt from retail sales tax. We like this one! Gun owners who are trying to do the right thing — keep their guns in a safe place — shouldn’t have to line the government’s pockets to do so. Heck, we don’t think anybody should have to line the government’s pockets but that’s another article.
- People who are served with permanent protective orders must surrender their guns within 24 hours.
More To Come
The Democrats passed ALL of this in one single session once they had control of the legislature. Think about that. Imagine what they’ll do next session!
And we know that this is Michael Bloomberg and ALL the anti-gun left’s plan for America. They’ve admitted they want this everywhere.
It’s time to stand up before the entire nation is as powerless as Virginia’s gun owners are now!