Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed 30 gun control bills on Tuesday afternoon, using his perch as a Republican governor to restrain Democrats from taking the state in a leftward direction despite the party having taken full control of the legislature in November.
“I swore an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of Virginia, and that absolutely includes protecting the right of law-abiding Virginians to keep and bear arms,” Youngkin said in a statement.
In the batch of 30 bills blocked on Tuesday, the governor explained his reasoning for each. He blocked a bill that would criminalize gun possession at public colleges, saying that the Democrats failed to consider “Virginia’s diverse geographic, cultural, and societal norms across different regions,” and that individual colleges can already prohibit guns if they want to.
Another bill, prohibiting home-based firearms dealers near schools, appeared to be targeted at one specific individual, and is therefore constitutional, he said.
For decades, Virginia’s legislature was largely controlled by Republicans, but in recent years, population growth in Northern Virginia led to become essentially a blue state. Democrats gained full control of the legislature in 2019, and aggressively pushed a slew of far-left actions.
Voters rebelled and elected Youngkin in a surprise victory in 2021, along with returning the House of Delegates to Republicans. Dem. Sen. Louise Lucas, then the leader of the Senate, frequently gloated that the Senate was a “brick wall” that would prevent Youngkin from getting his way.
Democrats took the House and retained the Senate in November, but now the tables have turned, with Youngkin serving as a brick wall against the legislature. He is currently blocking the Democrats’ proposed budget, which would raise taxes, and seeking a compromise.
Tuesday’s vetoes show that in order to get bills passed, they will have to work with Youngkin and moderate their positions.
Among the other bills vetoed include one that would have blocked widely-used gun safety courses from being used for concealed carry permits, having people take them instead from the state’s Department of Criminal Justice Services.
House Bill 799 would have required fingerprints to be submitted to obtain a concealed carry permit, which would be kept by the FBI. Youngkin said in 2012, members of both parties agreed this was superfluous given existing background checks, and that “concealed carry permit holders are known for being law-abiding citizens in the Commonwealth.”
House Bill 318 could have issued civil penalties to firearm companies, even though “the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) already provides a framework for addressing civil actions against firearms industry entities concerning negligent entrustment and defects,” Youngkin explained. He also said that the “Department of Justice has consistently defended the PLCAA.”
“The DOJ has argued against attempts by states to implement regulatory schemes as a loophole to the PLCAA, deeming them unconstitutional and lacking merit,” he said.
The veto “prevents baseless litigation that could financially devastate a lawful industry with exorbitant legal fees. Other lawful industries, such as vaccine producers, have similar protections,” he wrote.
Youngkin also blocked an attempt to reduce concealed-carry permit reciprocity with other states, a waiting period to purchase guns.
He said an attempt to punish people who left their gun in the car and had it stolen focused on criminalizing legal gun owners instead of the criminals who stole it, and that “the Commonwealth should prioritize prosecution and severe punishment for individuals who commit crimes.”
Another bill would have criminalized possessing a firearm within 100 feet of voting locations, which in combination with Democrats’ months-long voting using myriad ballot boxes “would necessitate individuals to navigate around various locations permanently, regardless of their purpose in the area.”
Another would use a government entity “to study the social, physical, emotional, and economic health effects of gun violence,” which Youngkin said “would expand the use of studies based on political beliefs.”
Other bills were unconstitutional, duplicative, vague, or had been overturned by courts when employed in other states, he said, including an age limit of 21 for purchasing guns.
The flurry of dozens of anti-gun bills by Democrats may not be designed to actually reduce violence, as Democrat prosecutors in the commonwealth have increasingly let violent criminals go.
A Virginia man arrested for 12 counts of rape this week was able to allegedly commit those offenses in part because far-left Fairfax County prosecutor Steve Descano had dropped more than a dozen charges for felonies and serious misdemeanors against the man since 2020, WJLA reported.
Virginia governors are limited to a single term, and the next governor will be elected next year.