Spanberger approves, amends several Virginia gun control laws

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger has signed six gun-control bills and amended four others that reached her desk last month.

The Democrat amended legislation on Monday night banning sales of “assault weapons” after June 30 by broadening the definition of an “assault firearm.”

The law prohibits the sale of assault firearms and the possession of a magazine that has a capacity of more than 15 rounds — lower than the 20-round threshold in current law.

Under the governor’s amendment, the definition of an “assault firearm” has been expanded to include:

• Semi-automatic rifles with a detachable magazine and any one of the following features: folding stock, pistol grip, thumbhole stock, grenade launcher, flare launcher, silencer, flash suppressor, or forward pistol grip.

• Semi-automatic pistols with two or more listed features.

• Semi-automatic shotguns.

• Belt-fed firearms.

Although Ms. Spanberger amended the legislation, like all state bills that are not vetoed by the Virginia governor by a proposed deadline, in this case, midnight Monday, they automatically become law.

John Commerford, executive director of the National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislation Action, said, “Gov. Spanberger’s last-minute amendments to these gun control bills — slipped in during the dead of night — are nothing more than a desperate ploy to prop up her radical redistricting referendum by delaying action until after” voting was well underway.

Mr. Commerford said, in the original assault weapons ban bill, one could still acquire a certain type of firearm after July 1 that can accept magazines with more than 15 rounds. In the amended version, he said, people are not allowed to use one’s grandfathered magazines in a new firearm.

“That is the technical minutia that they changed in this bill, and we saw significant drafting errors in differences across proposed bills throughout the entire 60-day session. There were conflicting definitions, conflicting terms, different bills handling the same code section,” Mr. Commerford said.

Another law amended by Ms. Spanberger is House Bill 1525, which implements age restrictions on firearm purchases in line with federal law, raises the minimum age to buy a handgun or “assault firearm” from 18 to 21, and restores private sales and transfers to require background checks.

The bills include exceptions for students in ROTC or law enforcement training.

The governor’s amendments direct the Virginia State Police to resume background checks on private sales of firearms, as well as make these bills consistent with the legislation that bans the future sale of “assault firearms.”

Additionally, Ms. Spanberger’s amendments include an emergency clause to enact this legislation immediately following action by the General Assembly, “recognizing the urgency of addressing the existing gap in background check enforcement.”

Legislation from House Bill 871 and Senate Bill 348 requires the safe storage of firearms in homes where minors are present. The law now mandates that firearms be kept in “a locked container, compartment, or cabinet that is inaccessible” to minors.

Ms. Spanberger amended the legislation by specifying how firearms can be rendered inoperable with a gun lock.

She amended House Bill 702, which is legislation related to developing gun buy-back programs. The amendments are intended to clarify the purpose of the initiatives developed by localities: “to provide Virginians who choose to safely return a firearm in their possession with a safe process to do so.”

Ms. Spanberger also signed several more gun-control bills on top of four bills she signed last Friday, including Senate Bill 115. Virginia’s current concealed carry reciprocity agreements with other states are likely to change because Ms. Spanberger signed this bill Monday night.

The state’s superintendent of police will determine whether other states’ concealed carry reciprocity agreements are substantially similar to the statutory qualifications for Virginia’s.

Senate Bill 27 and House Bill 21 establish a comprehensive set of standards for “responsible conduct” for members of the firearm industry, including manufacturers, distributors, and retailers.

Businesses would have to set up and implement “reasonable controls” over the manufacture, sale, distribution, use and marketing of firearm-related products. It also creates a broad civil cause of action allowing the state attorney general, local prosecutors or individuals to sue firearm businesses seeking injunctions, damages and other costs.

Ms. Spanberger also signed legislation, Senate Bill 272, House Bill 626, that limits who can carry firearms at a public institution, such as Capitol Square or a building of higher learning.

Legislation was also signed by Ms. Spanberger that expands the curriculum of concealed carry classes to include a shooting class, state laws on handguns, and proper handgun storage techniques.

The legislation also eliminates the National Rifle Association and U.S. Concealed Carry Association courses as a satisfying guideline.

Finally, Ms. Spanberger signed legislation that makes building, importing, selling, transferring, or possessing unserialized or plastic firearms a Class V felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $2,500.