VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Virginia Governor Ralph Northam is convening a special session of the state legislature this month to take up gun-control legislation.
“I will be asking for votes and laws, not thoughts and prayers," he said.
Northam plans to reintroduce bills that failed in the last session. He wants to give local governments the ability to limit firearms in public buildings, mandate universal background checks, ban silencers and high-capacity magazines.
He also wants to reinstate a limit of one handgun purchase a month.
In a statement, GOP Speaker Kirk Cox dismissed the governor’s call for a special session as “hasty and suspect when considered against the backdrop of the last few months” — a reference to the blackface photo scandal that nearly destroyed Northam’s career.
Cox said the Republicans will instead put forward legislation to toughen penalties — including new, mandatory minimum sentences — for those who use guns to commit crimes.
Following the massacre at Virginia Tech in 2007, Republicans blocked efforts by Democrats to strengthen gun laws. Lawmakers instead focused on mental health reform.
"Virginia significantly improved its reporting of mental health records to the database used for firearm purchaser background checks," according to the Giffords Law Center.
Virginia has long been considered gun-friendly.
The NRA is based in Fairfax.
"Gov. Northam is following the gun control playbook by exploiting a tragedy to push his failed political agenda," a spokesperson said. "The fact is, none of the governor's gun control proposals would have prevented the horrible tragedy at Virginia Beach."
"If Gov. Northam is genuinely interested in pursuing policies that will save lives, he should focus on prosecuting violent criminals and fixing our broken mental health system, instead of blaming Virginia's law-abiding gun owners for the act of a deranged murderer," they said.
The Virginia Citizens Defense League has also played a crucial role in preventing gun control legislation from passing. It touts stopping all 148 gun-control bills from passing in the last three years as one of its accomplishments.
The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence gives Virginia a “D” on its annual gun law score card.
In the Commonwealth, almost any adult can openly carry a gun in public, with restrictions in only a few cases. Gun owners don't need a license. Registration is not required, only for machine guns.
Unlicensed private sellers are not required to perform background checks.
The Giffords Law Center also gives Maryland an “A-“ for its gun laws, but that state is not immune. Last year, multiple people were killed at the Capital Gazette and a Rite Aide Distribution Center.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
