VA Governor Vetoes Pro-Gun Legislation

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Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe.  (Photo: Salon.com)

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe. (Photo: Salon.com)

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe values his ability to undermine the will of his constituents, and yesterday he announced his intention to keep that power intact.

McAuliffe vetoed House Bill 1096, legislation that would have prohibited, “any state entity from adopting or enforcing any rule, regulation, policy, or administrative action governing the purchase, possession, transfer, ownership, carrying, storage, or transporting of firearms, ammunition, or components or combinations thereof unless expressly authorized by statute.”

That’s a mouthful. Here it is in layman’s terms: HB 1096 would have 1) prohibited the governor from passing anti-gun executive orders and 2) given Virginia’s Congress sole authority to enact gun laws (“statutes”) for Virginians. By vetoing the bill, McAuliffe is preserving his ability to go around Congress and disregard the will of Virginia residents.

As the NRA-ILA points out, HB 1096 “was an important response to the Governor’s Executive Order 50, which banned firearms in many state buildings and denied citizens their right to self-defense on that property.” Virginia legislators saw how far McAuliffe was willing to go to erode Second Amendment rights, and they crafted legislation to ensure such attacks would never happen in the future.

The bill, sponsored by Del. Michael J. Webert, R-Fauquier, passed the House of Delegates on a vote of 63-35 and cleared the Senate on a vote of 21-17. Unfortunately, as the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports, Republicans do not have the votes to override the veto.

The anti-gun lobby does not have the support of the American people. In state legislatures as well as the national Congress, anti-Second Amendment bills have failed time and again. And instead of working through proper legislative channels, these groups have resorted to executive orders meant to force an anti-gun worldview down the throats of law-abiding Americans.

The President’s anti-gun executive action has received extensive media coverage, but McAullife is not the only governor to follow Obama’s lead. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee recently issued his own set of rules that, among other things, more strictly enforce Washington’s expanded background check laws. The orders don’t accomplish much, as this anti-gun website complains, but the mindset is still troubling. If a state legislature (aka, The People) refuses to act, the governor must step in and impose his will.

Oregon Governor Kate Brown also announced her intention to issue executive orders on gun control. She’s sparse on the details, but says she plans to “explore what might be achieved through my executive powers.”

Here’s another. Last December Connecticut Governor Daniel P. Malloy announced his intention to sign an executive order to banning the sale of firearms to those on government watch lists. The announcement specifically mentions the “no-fly list,” which American citizens can find themselves on without any kind of due process. To deny Second Amendment rights based upon this criteria is a clear violation of those rights.

Michael Bloomberg and the anti-gun community have made no attempt to hide their intention of pursuing their agenda at the state level. If we want to maintain our right to keep and bear arms, we cannot neglect the actions of our governors and state legislatures.

(Editor’s note: This article was a submission from freelance writer Jordan Michaels.)

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  • James Summers April 16, 2018, 11:38 am

    Rather than whine, start recall process. Information from web:

    Source: National Conference of State Legislatures

    Virginia has a process that is similar to a recall, but it is not listed here as a recall state because its process, while requiring citizen petitions, calls for a recall trial rather than an election. In Virginia, after sufficient petition signatures are gathered and verified, a circuit court decides whether a Virginia official will be removed from office. In the recall states, the voters decide through an election.

  • Pete April 2, 2016, 11:12 pm

    Plenty of good Virginians voted against the New York liberal piece of shit just not enough because to many young people have been taught in our federally controlled school systems that anyone who believes in Christian values is not worthy of the New world order were gay is ok reverse racism is ok and ANYONE who owns guns is the enemy

  • BJCG April 1, 2016, 8:41 pm

    Why do people vote for democrats? Their all anti-Gun, liberal, America hating, Alien loving traitors.

  • lou April 1, 2016, 8:09 pm

    As we all know, 993/4% of politicians lie “like a politician”. The second amendment means nothing to them. And frankly, I don’t think it means anything to anybody. Just a paragraph in an old file. So let’s stop talking 2nd. amendment. What those so called representatives of the people in Washington should do is to take away executive powers from the books. For US presidents and State governors alike. They don’t believe on the 2nd. amend. Why do they believe on executive powers? We can see how it’s being abused by Obama, Como, and many other governors. Let’s eliminate executive powers. Bring it up to your so called representative in Washington and wait for his response.

  • Larry April 1, 2016, 1:42 pm

    I see that Terry, the punk, McAuliffe, has risen from the sewage once again. Hey Virginia residents, elections have consequences! You had a very good, Constitution loving conservative American that you could have voted for but you chose the leftist path. Now you have to live with it unless & until you come to your senses & vote this piece of Liberal, gun grabbing Democrat trash out of office.

    • Ken Spurgeon April 1, 2016, 2:28 pm

      I couldn’t have said it better!

  • Rick April 1, 2016, 8:27 am

    VOTE DEMOCRATS OUT…….

    • Ricky Price April 1, 2016, 11:06 am

      Next time thank about ho you vote in.

  • martin davis April 1, 2016, 8:16 am

    What do Virginian’s expect! They elected a transplanted New York liberal and buddy of bill & hill. He could care less about Virginia! He’s waiting to jump over to DC as the next candidate for prez

    • wade osborne April 1, 2016, 8:45 am

      Don’t any of these states have a recall election process?

  • Roy Montoya March 30, 2016, 8:01 pm

    Here is a few troublesome facts. Many young people, republican and democrat love to shoot and hunt but have no fear of losing those rights because they have never had anything taken away. They have only been given whatever they’ve needed to get their vote. They will vote for anyone that will promise to do away with their college loans etc. Also because many of those same young people will not even register to vote because they think they will be added to a list to be called for jury duty and possibly other “hassles”. Note that I said many, not all young people. If we need to associate examples with numbers just count how many protesters are protesting for NOTHING. That would be a good start.

  • Ralph March 28, 2016, 11:34 am

    As long as Democrat gun owners continue to support these politicians and vote for them in every election, strictly on the basis of party affiliation, all law abiding gun owners will continue to lose their 2nd Amendment rights, until they have no right of gun ownership at all.

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