Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger is facing a potential legislative dead end after making significant changes to House Bill 1525. While the governor intended to tighten firearm restrictions, her decision to add an emergency clause to the bill may have inadvertently ensured its defeat in the General Assembly.
The amended legislation aims to raise the minimum age for purchasing and possessing certain firearms to 21. Currently, many young adults aged 18 to 20 in the Commonwealth already legally own these types of guns.
In a press release, the Governor’s office stated the amendments were designed to “direct Virginia State Police to resume background checks on private sales of firearms” and to bring the bill into alignment with other pending measures, House Bill 217 and Senate Bill 749.
However, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) pointed out a massive procedural hurdle: the Virginia Constitution.
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By attaching an emergency declaration to the bill, Spanberger has triggered a requirement for a four-fifths supermajority vote in both the House and Senate for the bill to pass. Given the current narrow partisan split in both chambers, reaching that threshold is considered highly unlikely.
“In her zeal to enact stricter gun controls, Governor Spanberger may have fatally wounded her amended legislation,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb.
The push for a higher age limit has already drawn scrutiny beyond Richmond. Gottlieb noted that the U.S. Department of Justice has previously cautioned the governor against legislation that might infringe on Second Amendment rights.
Critics of the bill argue that because 18-to-20-year-olds are legal adults who can vote, marry, and join the military, the restrictions constitute age discrimination.
“Young adults in the 18-to-20-year age group are citizens who have reached the legal age of majority,” Gottlieb said. “Pressing an amended version of legislation already passed by Virginia lawmakers by raising the minimum age to purchase certain firearms—and declaring it an emergency—is definitely not only the wrong approach, but blatant age discrimination.”
While the governor’s office maintains these changes are necessary for public safety and consistency in state law, the CCRKBA suggests the move is a political strategy that could result in federal lawsuits.
As the General Assembly prepares to review the amendments, the four-fifths voting requirement stands as a significant barrier to the bill becoming law.
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