Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed dozens of Democrat anti-gun bills this week. Thirty bills in total passed by the General Assembly, Youngkin believes they step on the rights of law-abiding citizens.
One of the bills is HB 2, which was aimed at banning the sale or acquisition of new “assault rifles.”
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed an assault weapons ban that passed the state legislature last month, alongside multiple other gun control bills, in a 30-bill veto session. https://t.co/cHZtGqSB0H
— The Hill (@thehill) March 27, 2024
Another is HB 454, a piece of legislation which turned the possession of a firearm in a building owned or operated by a college or university into a criminal offense. Aside from how it encroaches on citizen’s rights, Youngkin took issue with how unnecessary the bill is, given that higher institutions can implement gun prohibitions on their campuses if needed.
Youngkin also shot down HB 799, a bill which sought to make submission of fingerprints a requirement when submitting an application for a concealed handgun permit or permit renewal. According to the Republican governor, that bill “targets individuals already subject to background checks and mandatory training, creating superfluous and onerous restrictions on responsible citizens exercising their Second Amendment right to self-defense.”
HB 585, that would have barred firearms sales within 1.5 miles of an elementary or middle school, and HB 798, that was aimed at prohibiting Virginians with assault and battery or stalking convictions from purchasing or possessing firearms, were also among the vetoed bills. Youngkin’s problem with hb 585 stems from it being “unconstitutional, retaliatory, and arbitrary.”
In the state Senate, Youngkin vetoed SB 99, SB 273 and SB 327.
SB 99 would have banned the carrying of “assault firearms” in public areas while SB 273 sought to instill waiting periods in the purchase of firearms, a requirement which Youngkin said would “impede individuals facing threats of violence from promptly acquiring a firearm for self-defense.”
SB 327 was aimed at barring Americans under the age of 21 from buying a handgun or what Democrats called an “assault firearm.”
In a statement that announced his decision on the 30 bills, including 37 other bills, the governor said, “I swore an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of Virginia, and that absolutely includes protecting the right of law-abiding Virginians to keep and bear arms.”
“I am pleased to sign four public safety bills which are commonsense reforms with significant bipartisan support from the General Assembly, and offer recommendations to several bills which, if adopted, will make it harder for criminals to use guns in the commission of a violent act,” he added.
Of the 67 bills he acted on, Youngkin signed some bills, including one which prohibits the possession, manufacture or transfer of an auto sear and another which prevents parents from “willfully allowing a child who poses a credible threat of violence to access a firearm.”
