Great to see Virginia House Democratic Leader David Toscano throwing down the gauntlet to Virginia House Republicans on the issue of guns. As Leader Toscano says, people “DO want our thoughts and prayers” but “the words are no longer enough, they really want action.” Toscano describes how people ask him what’s going on in the Virginia General Assembly and challenges House Republicans to do something about this problem ASAP:
Mr. Speaker, when people interested in gun safety talk to me about what’s going on down here, and I explain to them how bill after bill after bill related to gun safety go to die in a small, stacked, non-proportional subcommittee, they ask why and they get angry. They know that the shooter in Las Vegas would not have killed as many as he did had he not had a bumpstock… And when I tell that there was a bill that would have outlawed bumpstocks that was defeated in a partisan vote in a small committee, they ask why, and they get angry. They know that the shooter in Florida had an AR-15 and was under 21 when he bought it…And when I tell them about bills that have failed here that would have made it more difficult for young people to purchase such an assault weapon, they ask why, and they get angry…
Mr. Speaker…here is our challenge to you. Let’s take three proposals, just three, that were recently advanced by lawmakers in other states and have been proposed in some measure in this House…Ban bumpstocks…How about a bill to prevent those under 21 from buying an AR-15?…[or a bill in which] families or law enforcement concerned about the mental health of an individual and their access to guns can ask for a restraining order to temporarily take away those weapons until the danger subsides…You say the word, Mr. Speaker, we can resurrect that bill or the other two that I discussed or other gun safety measures that you might want — but we cannot do it alone…we can consider bills like these, and our constituents can see the rational discourse and debate, not in a small committee but on the floor of this House. And they will see how we vote and they can judge whether we have truly dealt with one of the most significant problems our country faces today…
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