Gun rights group warns against new Virginia gun laws
(The Center Square) – A gun rights group is highlighting concerns about several new Virginia gun laws going into effect July 1, which will restrict the locations where a person can legally carry a firearm.
“The only people who abide by gun-free zones are law-abiding citizens, and these laws turn good people into soft targets,” John Crump, the Virginia director of Gun Owners of America, told The Center Square. “If gun-free zones worked, then all we would have to do is put up ‘no guns allowed’ signs to stop all crime, but clearly, that approach has failed miserably.”
When the laws go into effect, people will be prohibited from open and concealed carry of firearms at the Richmond State Capitol and surrounding areas. Gun rights supporters had routinely held peaceful armed demonstrations on capitol grounds annually. Last year, Gov. Ralph Northam used his executive authority to ban firearms on its grounds during the protest, which led hundreds of armed demonstrators to protest on streets and sidewalks to comply with the law.
A separate law will prohibit firearms within 40 feet of a polling location with a few exceptions. A qualified or retired law-enforcement officer will still be allowed to carry a firearm, as will a licensed armed security officer performing his duty within those boundaries. A person who possesses a weapon on his own property, if it falls within the boundary, will also be exempt.
Another law will allow local school boards to label property it owns and leases as gun-free zones if board members regularly meet there.
Violating the new gun free zones would subject the offender to a Class 1 misdemeanor, which is punishable up to 12 months in jail and/ or up to a $2,500 fine. Each of these bills received support from Democratic leaders, but were strongly opposed by Republican leaders.
“These new laws are not about making us safer because they won’t,” Crump said. “They are about enacting laws that are based upon a fundamental hatred for the right to bear arms. Gun Owners of America and Virginia gun owners will spare no expense and no effort to fight these anti-freedom and anti-liberty laws.”
A law to prohibit those convicted of domestic abuse from buying or possessing a firearm will also go into effect. The ban expires after three years of the conviction, at which point the person’s gun rights are restored.
The bills, which were passed in 2021, came after Democratic lawmakers passed sweeping gun control laws in the 2020 legislative session. Some of those changes include red-flag laws, restrictions on handgun purchases, expanded background checks and reporting requirements for lost or stolen firearms.
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