According to Firearm Chronicles
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has officially signed off on several gun control laws approved by the Democrat-controlled General Assembly, including a “red flag” firearms seizure bill, one-gun-a-month rationing for most Virginians, so-called universal background checks, and more. “We lose too many Virginians to gun violence, and it is past time we took bold, meaningful action to make our communities safer,” said Northam. “I was proud to work with legislators and advocates on these measures, and I am proud to sign them into law. These commonsense laws will save lives.” No, they really won’t, but they will allow the governor and Democrats to proclaim they did “something” when it comes to gun control.
The bills will take effect on July 1st of this year, and we should expect lawsuits to follow soon afterwards.
Northam also used his signing statement to signal that his biggest gun control priority is going to be re-introduced in the next session. “We cant stop here. We need to keep working on this issue. It will be year after year,” Northam said on a press call.
Northam has been pushing for a ban on so-called assault weapons and large capacity magazines, but the governor’s preferred gun ban bill was defeated after several Democrat state senators rejected the measure. Unfortunately, none of them expressed opposition to the idea of a gun ban in general, just with the specifics of the proposal, and anti-gun groups and lawmakers are expected to lobby those lawmakers in the coming months with the hopes of getting their support for a revised bill that will likely be introduced in the fall.