Richmond, VA – In case you missed it, Senate Democrats held a press conference on their commitment to keeping Virginia communities safe by passing life-saving gun safety legislation in the 2023 session.
Senators Creigh Deeds, Jennifer Boysko, Chap Petersen, Adam Ebbin, and Dave Marsden were joined by Lori Haas, advocate for gun violence prevention, this morning and gave brief remarks about their gun safety legislation.
“We are here today to talk about the gun violence epidemic and the solutions that Senate Democrats are putting forward this session,” said Senator Creigh Deeds. “From banning the sale of military style weapons, to stopping dangerous individuals from acquiring firearms, to common sense firearm safety storage laws – Democrats are committed to making our communities safer.”
“Gun violence is the number 1 cause of death for children in Virginia and in our nation and safe firearm storage will help prevent gun deaths and injuries,” said Senator Jennifer Boysko. “My bill would not only stop tragedies, like we saw in Newport News, but will prevent other tragedies including gun accidents, youth suicides and school shootings. Gun violence is an epidemic, and we owe it to past and future victims and their families to work together to solve it — and to save lives.”
“Nationwide, there were an estimated 77,000 guns stolen from vehicles in 2022. That is one gun every 15 minutes or less,” said Senator Dave Marsden. “Guns are getting into the wrong hands and people are dying. This is a growing trend in the Commonwealth and it has got to stop.
“Weapons of war have no place in civil society and certainly not on our streets where they frighten our families,” said Senator Adam Ebbin. “Regular issue law enforcement service weapons aren’t a match for these military weapons and their standard issue vest can’t stop a high velocity bullet. It’s long past time we do more to protect our public servants. “
“We have a situation where the gun industry has changed. Now you are able to purchase parts for guns on the internet and it is accessible to people of all ages, backgrounds that shouldn’t be able to acquire firearms,” said Senator Chap Petersen. “What we are trying to do is bring some reasonable regulation to gun manufacturers to stop dangerous individuals from acquiring firearms.”
Watch the full press conference HERE.
Below is a full list of Senate Democrats’ life-saving gun safety legislation:
SB901 Firearm in unattended motor vehicle; civil penalty. Senator Marsden
SB909 Firearms; transfers to another person from a prohibited person. Senator Favola
SB918 Assault firearms and certain ammunition feeding devices; carrying, sale, transfer, etc. Senator Morrissey
SB1139 Storage of firearms in a residence where a minor is present; penalty. Senator Boysko
SB1167 Firearm industry members; standards of responsible conduct; civil liability. Senator Petersen
SB1181 Sale, transfer, or purchase of unfinished frames or receivers and unserialized firearms; penalty. Senator Ebbin
SB1192 Carrying assault firearms in public areas prohibited; penalty. Senator Ebbin
SB1283 Assault firearms; age requirement; penalty. Senator Edwards
SB1382 Purchase, possession, sale, transfer, etc., of assault firearms and certain ammunition feeding. Senator Deeds
SB1067 Substantial risk orders; substantial risk factors and considerations. Senator Surovell
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