See below for a press release from VA Del. Dan Helmer (D-Fairfax), who responds to the “Trump Administration’s lawsuit attempting to stifle the first assault weapons ban in the South.” Also see Courthouse News for the story (“The Justice Department sued Virginia Wednesday just hours after the commonwealth’s ban on the sale and purchase of high-capacity semiautomatic weapons went into effect.”) and click here for the case filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division. Also, I’d note that with the current configuration of the U.S. Supreme Court (6-3 MAGA/hard-right), the chances of almost ANY gun violence prevention legislation being upheld are getting slimmer and slimmer. Perhaps everyone should keep that in mind, next time there’s a crucial election, such as in 2016, and there are actually people arguing (absurdly) that the Supreme Court’s not a big issue, or doesn’t pose a serious threat, etc. Because the fact is, if Hillary Clinton had become president instead of Donald Trump, we would have had a sane, precedent-abiding, constitution-respecting Supreme Court, instead of the lawless, reckless, out-of-control, extreme, illegitimate nightmare we’ve got now.
Virginia Assault Weapons Ban Author Dan Helmer Responds to Outrageous Trump Administration Action to Stifile Commonsense Gun Law
RICHMOND – In response to the Trump Administration’s lawsuit attempting to stifle the first assault weapons ban in the South, bill author, veteran, and Delegate Dan Helmer released the following statement:
“Weapons similar to those that I carried while serving overseas have no place in our schools, in our churches, and on our streets. Virginians elected a Democratic majority with an overwhelming mandate to take action against gun violence – and the General Assembly delivered.
“Gun violence is the leading cause of death among young people in Virginia. But the Trump Administration has made its position clear: those lives matter less than satiating the gun lobby and gun manufacturers who have profited for years from the epidemic of gun violence in our Commonwealth.
“We are going to fight this tooth and nail. We are going to continue to work every single day to deliver a future for Virginia’s children that is free from the specter of gun violence. And we are not going to cave to an authoritarian regime that chooses profits over innocent lives.”
You can read the full text of HB217 here. Helmer’s bill would prohibit future sales, purchases, and transfers of assault weapons and high capacity magazines. Ten states currently prohibit assault weapons, including Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts. This bill would ban trafficking in the kinds of weapons responsible for 9 of the 10 deadliest mass shootings in American history.
Research from Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun violence nonprofit, has found that:
Nine of the 10 deadliest U.S. mass shootings have been carried out with assault weapons, including the Las Vegas, Orlando, El Paso, Sutherland Springs, San Bernardino, Parkland, Dayton, and Uvalde shootings.
Between 2009 and 2020, when assault weapons were used in a mass shooting, 6 times as many people were shot, twice as many people were killed, and 22 times as many people were wounded per incident on average, compared to mass shootings where assault weapons were not used.
In shootings where assault weapons or high capacity magazines are used, 155% more people are shot, and 47% more people are killed.
Assault weapons bans work: while the 1994 federal ban was in effect, gun massacres (defined as six or more people shot and killed) fell by 37%, and the number of people dying from gun massacres declined by 43%.
Researchers estimate that if we still had a federal assault weapons ban, we would see 70% fewer mass shooting deaths.
