Virginians Prep for a Second Amendment Battle

Virginia has been trending blue for a long time, as both the D.C. suburbs of “NoVa” and the state’s minority population have grown. Add in the suburb-alienating Trumpist drift of the GOP — both nationally and in the southern part of the state — and sprinkle on the judicial demise of some heavy gerrymandering, and you wind up with Democrats in control of the entire state government. Less than a year after a wave of Democratic scandals that was so humiliating it has its own Wikipedia page, in fact.

This could mean big changes for the state that’s home to both the headquarters of the National Rifle Association and the “Nation’s Gun Show.” Already a number of far-reaching gun bills have been announced for January’s legislative session, and already red localities are threatening to defy them.

The split in the state senate is narrow, just 21–19, so moderate Democrats will likely be able to tame the worst aspects of what their party is offering. But some of the initial proposals are truly awful, placing severe and unnecessary burdens on lawful gun owners. They almost seem intentionally designed to whip up opposition in the state’s rural and conservative areas.

A bill known as HB 2, for example, requires background checks on private gun sales. (Current law already requires checks on sales by licensed gun dealers.) This is a fairly moderate idea, and one I have some sympathy for myself, but it must be executed meticulously. The drafters of a universal-background-check law must be careful not to make criminals of people who loan guns to each other during hunting trips but hunt in different parts of the woods, for example.