See below for an email from Fairfax County Chair Jeff McKay, and a resolution that passed yesterday 9-1, urging the Virginia General Assembly to “to support commonsense gun safety
legislation as quickly as possible, including:
• A ban on assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and armor piercing ammunition;
• Authority for localities to ban the possession of pneumatic guns on school grounds, with an exemption for school-sponsored activities (pneumatic guns use pump action or carbon dioxide gas cartridges to fire explosives, often strongly resemble firearms, and can cause serious injury or death);
• Support for community violence intervention programs (in the 2021 Special Session II, the General Assembly provided additional funding for gun violence reduction programs and youth and gang violence intervention efforts, which could potentially support community violence intervention programs);
• Consider increasing the age limit for buying certain weapons;
• Consider regulating ghost gun parts, ensuring they cannot be sold without serial numbers and a background check; and
• Stronger local authority to allow counties, cities, and towns to enact their own gun safety policies.”
As Chair McKay notes, “Virginia is a Dillon Rule state, so the County needs the General Assembly to expressly give us authority to pass certain ordinances.” Of course, Republicans will never go for this, but it’s all the more reason to put Democrats back in charge of the Virginia House of Delegates next year, and to increase their margin in the State Senate!
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