Mar 1, 2012
Handgun-A-Month Law
Handgun-A-Month Law, irginia’s handgun-a-month law, which had been in place since 1993, was repealed today by Governor Bob McDonnell.
McDonnell had earlier expressed support for repealing the law, which stated that individuals could only purchase one handgun every 30 days but didn’t apply to rifles or shotguns. The General Assembly passed the legislation on February 15.
It seems several people who lost family members during the horrific Virginia Tech shooting incident back in 2007 met with McDonnell over the weekend to try and persuade him to veto the bill, even though they knew it wasn’t likely.
Andrew Goddard, whose son was injured in the VT shooting, was quoted as saying that Monday’s school shooting in Ohio should serve as a reminder to McDonnell as to how simple it already is for someone to obtain a gun.
Goddard said:
“They have not learned a damn thing. Here we are watching kids dying in other states, and we’re going to be a purveyor of firearms for other states.”
Lori Haas, whose daughter was wounded during at VT, said:
“Getting rid of the handgun-a-month law will make it easier for gun traffickers to purchase handguns in bulk. There have been too many tragedies in other states fueled by guns that come from Virginia, and this will only make the situation worse.”
Still, politicians like Scott Lingamfelter, who sponsored the bill, stated that the handgun-a-month law wasn’t effective and wouldn’t have much of an impact on gun trafficking.
Lingamfelter said:
“I think Virginians deserve effective laws, and one handgun a month has been overtaken by technology and improved background checks. Criminals don’t go into gun stores, stand there in the bright light, hand over their driver’s license and stand there and wait for the vendor to see if they have a criminal record…If you really want to get after gun crime, you get after people who use guns illegally.”
The 1993 law was part of the legislative legacy of Democratic former Governor L. Douglas Wilder, passed when the state of Virginia was a favorite armory for East Coast criminals.
Read more at http://www.blippitt.com/handgun-a-month-law-repealed-by-virginia-governor/#UWtiERlWFryvrBeW.99