Virginia Democrats are pushing ahead with more gun control. It is a reminder that the Democratic Party’s gun control agenda targets law-abiding gun owners and lets criminals completely off the hook.
The gun control proposals flowing through the Virginia legislature to Gov. Abigail Spanberger‘s (D-VA) desk are the typical incoherent Democratic talking points: banning the arbitrary category of “assault weapons,” banning “large capacity” magazines, and waiting periods for purchasing guns. Two of the most onerous requirements, as Jay Caruso wrote for the Washington Examiner, include requiring “a state-issued permit to purchase firearms, which would oddly extend to renting a firearm at a shooting range,” and “mandatory storage requirements” that restrict a gun owner’s ability to access his or her firearm in a timely manner in his or her own home.
None of this will do anything to solve gun crime. It is lost on Democrats, but criminals do not follow the law. They will acquire illegal “assault weapons” or magazines regardless of what you legislate. A Justice Department report from 2019 detailed how around 91% of gun criminals acquire their firearms through illegal means or from another person. Storage requirements won’t stop people who are already reckless enough to leave their guns around the house where small children can reach them, either.