Virginia Gov. Northam calling for special session of legislature to take up gun control

By Gregory S. Schneider June 4 at 9:35 AM

RICHMOND — Gov. Ralph Northam (D) will call Tuesday morning for a special session of the General Assembly to take up a package of gun control bills in the wake of Friday’s mass shooting in Virginia Beach.

Northam, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax and Attorney General Mark R. Herring, all Democrats, will stand together at a news conference in Richmond calling for action to ban silencers and high-capacity magazines such as those used in the Virginia Beach incident. All expressed frustration over the weekend that Republicans who control the General Assembly have repeatedly stifled efforts to consider any form of gun control.

Northam told the Associated Press that he will call the session later this summer. Most of the bills he discussed have failed in previous sessions of the legislature, including broadening the ability of local governments to limit firearms in public buildings, mandating universal background checks, limiting purchases to one handgun per month and allowing authorities to seize the weapons of a person found to be a threat to themsevles or others.

One top Republican suggested Monday that he was open to taking up the issue, though he did not commit to specifics. “I was in Virginia Beach yesterday, and I think there ought to be a meaningful discussion legislatively and in the community about gun control,” said Senate Majority Leader Thomas K. Norment Jr. (James City), according to an account in the Virginia Gazette newspaper that was confirmed by his spokesman.

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