From Progress Virginia:
Speaker Kirk Cox Cowardly On Gun Violence
Richmond, Virginia—In the wake of back-to-back mass shootings in Dayton, OH and El Paso, TX, Speaker Cox once again refuses to take action to prevent gun violence in the Commonwealth. Instead of calling the House of Delegates back to work to actually do their jobs and pass commonsense gun violence prevention legislation, he released a toothless statement decrying violence. He needs to do better. Virginia voters won’t stand for inaction any longer.
“Virginians are sick and tired of politicians who are bought and paid for by the gun lobby and who refuse to take action to save lives and prevent gun violence. Speaker Cox had the opportunity to stand up against gun violence, but he adjourned Gun Violence Prevention Session without voting on a single bill after just 90 minutes,” Anna Scholl, Executive Director of Progress Virginia, said. “We know that if we pass common sense gun violence prevention legislation, lives will be saved. Until Republicans get to work and pass pass popular, common sense legislation to prevent gun violence, they will be to blame for the next shooting. You can bet that voters are watching and will vote for people who will stand up for their communities and prevent gun violence.”
“If Speaker Cox is serious about addressing solutions to white supremacist violence, he should be denouncing President Trump for inciting white supremacist violence. It isn’t possible to sincerely stand against white supremacist violence while at the same time working on dog whistle bills that require mandatory minimums that disproportionately impact black and brown Virginians. We’ll believe Speaker Cox’s commitment to ending white supremacist violence when we see it. Until then, we will work to make sure he is replaced by someone who is actually ready to do something about it.”
Gun violence claims the lives of 958 Virginians each year. Someone is killed with a gun every 9 hours in the Commonwealth. Black people are disproportionately affected by gun violence in the United States. Black men are 13 times more likely than non-Hispanic white men to be shot and killed with guns, and the gun death rate for Black children and teens was nearly four times that for white children and teens. 94% of Virginia voters support requiring background checks for all gun buyers, with 90% of Republican voters supporting the measure. Currently, Virginia law does not require a background checkprior to the transfer of a firearm between unlicensed individuals, regulate the transfer or possession of large capacity ammunition magazines, or impose a waiting period prior to purchase of a firearm.
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
