Virginia Senate panel OKs ban on ‘assault weapons.’ Critics say it would apply to most modern guns

A Democrat-led Virginia Senate committee has advanced a bill that would ban “assault weapons,” which critics say would make it illegal to possess most modern firearms in the commonwealth.

The Senate Courts of Justice Committee approved Senate Bill 749 in a 9-5 party-line vote. The bill classifies “assault weapons” as any gun that can hold 10 or more rounds. It now goes to the Finance and Appropriations Committee.

Violators of the proposed law, introduced by state Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim, Fairfax Democrat, could face up to a year in jail for buying, selling or transferring the banned firearm. The bill’s ban would only apply to guns acquired after July 1.

“Currently, there are so many assault weapons in circulation,” Mr. Salim said Monday at a hearing. “This approach will gradually take the weapons off the street without retroactively making it a crime to own a weapon that was legally purchased.”

The committee’s Republican minority was quick to point out how the bill’s broad language lumps most firearms into the illicit category.

“I would like to point out that this doesn’t just address weapons of war. It doesn’t just address AR-15s. It addresses basically every semi-automatic handgun manufactured in America, other than micro handguns,” said Sen. Mark Obenshain, a Republican who represents several western counties in the state.

“I would suggest that this is not the same definition of assault weapons that is utilized elsewhere in the country. And I think that this goes much farther than even many of the supporters may realize that it goes,” Mr. Obenshain said.

John Enoch, who spoke on behalf of the armed security guards and bail enforcement agents in the state, said the proposed ban could jeopardize the safety of the gun-wielding professionals since it limits what kind of firepower they can carry.

Before the hearing, the Sportsmen’s Alliance issued a statement saying the bill would turn commonly used hunting rifles and shotguns into contraband.

But Democratic supporters of the bill, such as Sen. Russet Perry, said judicial precedent has allowed the prohibition of certain weapons that don’t violate the Second Amendment.

“The courts have upheld that the weapons of war, which are what I believe Senator Salim is trying to take off of our streets — weapons that were meant to destroy people quickly, without having to have good aim — that those don’t belong in the hands of a civilian,” Ms. Perry said.

Lori Haas, who works at the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, noted that the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld Maryland’s much more stringent ban on assault weapons.

“I think we’re in good standing constitutionally,” Ms. Haas said.

Committee Chair Sen. Scott Surovell, Fairfax Democrat, said the bill will need edits to clarify which weapons to ban.