Virginia Governor Northam Just Quietly Signed Into Law 5 Measures To Limit Citizen Rights To 2nd Amendment
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam (Democrat) signed into law five new gun control measures on Friday.
Northam has been pushing for extended gun control legislation for months now under the scrutiny of its citizens and the rest of America.
The new legislation takes effect on July 1, here’s what is covered:
From The Hill:
The new statutes include expanded background checks, mandated reporting of lost and stolen guns, preventing children from accessing guns, reinstating Virginia’s one-handgun-a-month policy limiting each individual to one handgun purchase every 30 days, and a “red flag” law allowing law enforcement to take guns from those deemed to present a danger to themselves or others.
Many Americans agree on some sort of increased gun legislation. The biggest unifying factor seems to be around more extensive background checks as most people don’t want more guns in the hands of felons.
However, some of these new laws might go too far limiting the constitutional rights of Americans.
Red Flag laws have garnered a lot of criticism recently as they have been making the rounds. Many saw they are necessary to end gun violence from troubled individuals. Yet on the other hand, there are those who are very concerned about the potential for the government to override constitutional rights based on what they deem as harmful.
Democrat leaders of the state legislature praised the new laws.
Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw called Friday “a monumental day,” while Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn said Virginians “demanded action and we delivered.”
What will come of these laws remains to be seen. Will they work?
Or will the unnecessarily limit the rights of US citizens?
One thing that did not pass was legislation over assault weapons. This “ambitious” goal led to huge protests in the state that received national media attention with very high stakes at play. The people of Virginia (at least a portion of them) made it very clear that they were NOT OK with an assault weapon ban.
But, for assault weapons rights activists, the fight is far from over.
“We have come short on that particular issue,” Northam said on a press call Friday, saying he plans to push it again in the following session.
He wasn’t successful this time, but he will be back.
Are these new laws limiting our constitutional freedoms or should we give up ground to the government in order to “make us all safer?”
I’ll let you decide in the comments below…
Source: The Hill