Virginia House approves assault weapons ban

The Virginia House of Delegates approved an assault weapons ban on a party line vote Friday.

Fairfax County Democratic Del. Dan Helmer’s bill would end the sale and transfer of assault firearms manufactured after July 1, 2024. It also prohibits the sale of certain large capacity magazines.

“This bill would stop the sale of weapons similar to those I and many of the other veterans carried in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Helmer said.

He reminded lawmakers about tragedies across the country in which assault-style weapons were used.

“Our schools, our community centers, our college campuses, our nightclubs and our shopping malls are not war zones,” he said. “At least they shouldn’t be.”

Arguing against the measure, Culpeper-area Republican Del. Nick Freitas, who was a special forces weapon sergeant in Iraq, said the focus of legislation should be on criminals, not guns.

“If you take a weapon and you put it on a desk and you don’t touch it, no one gets assaulted,” he said. “People do assault other people, and that should be the sort of crime that we are actually going after. But again we’re going after inanimate objects.”

While the bill would not impact assault weapons manufactured before July 1, it does prohibit younger Virginians, those under age 21, from owning, selling or transferring assault weapon regardless of manufacture date.

Freitas said he fears if this bill becomes law, even greater restrictions could be ahead.

“Ultimately, I don’t agree that this is going to save lives and I also don’t agree that this is where it’s going to stop,” he said.

The Virginia Senate has not taken a floor vote on its version of the bill. If it passes the House and Senate, it goes to Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who could veto it.

In a recent address, Youngkin called Virginia’s current gun laws “some of the toughest in the nation.”

“He’s asking the General Assembly members to hold accountable those criminals that commit crimes with guns by lengthening and making more severe the penalties in order to keep criminals off the streets,” a spokesman added.