Gun debate ends abruptly in Virginia as GOP-controlled legislature adjourns after 90 minutes
By Gregory S. Schneider, ,
Laura Vozzella and
Antonio Olivo July 9 at 1:43 PM
RICHMOND — Barely more than an hour after it convened in a special session called by the Democratic governor to debate gun legislation, the GOP-controlled state Senate adjourned on a party line vote of 20 to 18, stunning hundreds of gun control activists and gun rights protesters who packed the Capitol.
The Senate gaveled in shortly after noon and then at about 1:30 p.m., moved to adjourn until November, without taking up any legislation.
But before adjourning, Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment Jr. (R-James City) pulled a bill he had filed a day earlier that would have banned firearms from local government buildings around the state and make any violation a felony. State law now bans guns only in courthouses, and a violation is a misdemeanor.
Norment’s bill caught GOP colleagues off guard and sparked cries of betrayal from the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun rights group.
“I do not support — nor will I support — any measure that restricts the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens,” Norment said.
Armed militia members and gun control activists had swarmed the grounds and streets outside the State Capitol building Tuesday morning, trying to sway lawmakers gathering for a special session to debate gun regulation in a state where 12 people died in a mass shooting in May.
Men in camouflage, some with holstered handguns dangling from their hips, gathered not far from a heavily female crowd wearing red “Moms Demand Action” T-shirts. Busloads of activists rolled into the city, their passengers bracing for a long day.
By 8:30 a.m. about 150 pro-gun demonstrators, several carrying assault rifles, gathered outside the white-columned building.
more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/gun-debate-hits-full-throttle-in-richmond-as-legislature-convenes/2019/07/09/caf20590-a1d4-11e9-bd56-eac6bb02d01d_story.html?utm_term=.2cabf5ea2703&wpisrc=al_local_politics__alert-local-politics--alert-local&wpmk=1
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