Desperate times call for desperate measures. And if you’re Democrat Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, these are desperate times, indeed.
Hot on the heels of polling data showing that she is so far in the hole that she’ll likely never climb out, Gov. Spanberger can almost see her party’s chance at redrawing Congressional district lines to heavily favor Democrats going down the tubes.
Consequently, rather than sign the unpopular measure, SB 749/HB 217, passed by the State Assembly banning many common semi-automatic rifles, Gov. Spanberger has instead made minor amendments to that bill and several others, which will push her deadline to sign the legislation past the April 21 redistricting referendum election.
In a report on Spanberger’s amendments, NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) called them “watered down” and a “political ploy.”
“Gov. Spanberger’s last-minute amendments to these gun control bills—slipped in during the dead of night—are nothing more than a desperate ploy to prop up her radical redistricting referendum by delaying action until after Election Day,” said John Commerford, NRA-ILA Executive Director. “These changes don’t fix the bills; they merely attempt to rebrand blatant violations of law-abiding Virginians’ Second Amendment rights.”
The measures banning what authors called “assault weapons” would ban certain semi-automatic firearms, including many semi-automatic rifles, pistols and shotguns, prohibit the sale of magazines exceeding 15 rounds, and prohibit possession by legal adults under the age of 21. This bill is an attempt to redefine and ban firearms that are in common use by law-abiding citizens, and prohibit the future sale and transfer of virtually all modern firearms in Virginia.
In a news release issued on April 14, Gov. Spanberger bragged that the measure, and others she amended, are “common-sense steps that will help keep our families, our communities and our law enforcement officers safe.”
Specifically concerning the semi-auto and magazine ban, the release stated: “The Governor’s amendments provide additional clarity to law enforcement as it relates to the firearms included under this legislation, as well as protect the use of certain semi-automatic shotguns used for hunting.”
As for the NRA, ILA head Commerford said Gov. Spanberger’s cynical political maneuvers reveal not only her contempt for constitutional freedoms but also her disregard for the hundreds of thousands of responsible gun owners across the Commonwealth.
“Our message to the governor remains the same,” Commerford concluded. “We’ll see you in court.”
Of course, the NRA is not the only group threatening the governor with a lawsuit if she signs the measure. Assistant U.S. Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, head of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, sent Gov. Spanberger a letter on April 10 saying her office would sue the commonwealth if Spanberger signs the ban legislation.
“This letter provides formal notice that the Civil Rights Division will commence litigation in the event the Commonwealth of Virginia enacts certain bills that unconstitutionally limit law-abiding Americans’ individual right to bear arms,” Dhillon wrote. “Specifically, SB 749, as written, would require Virginia law enforcement agencies to engage in a practice of unconstitutionally restricting the making, buying or selling of AR-15s and many other semi-automatic firearms in common use.”
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