With the deadline for taking action on the legislation that the General Assembly sent him this month just two weeks away, Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Tuesday announced that he has vetoed an additional 30 bills that he said would “punish law-abiding gun owners and violate their constitutional rights.” He also signed 31 measures into law and offered amendments to six.
“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.
At the top of the list of proposals that Youngkin rejected was SB 2, sponsored by Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, that would have banned assault-style weapons in the commonwealth. HB 2, the companion measure sponsored by Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax County, shared the same fate.
The legislation, which was based on the Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 that expired in 2004, would have made it a Class 1 misdemeanor to possess or sell assault-style weapons and high-capacity ammunition feeding devices. It would have also banned people under 21 from owning these weapons, which include the AR-15.
The proposal passed both chambers of the Democratic-controlled legislature on a party-line vote this year, after an identical measure had failed in the House of Delegates during the 2023 General Assembly session, when Republicans controlled the chamber.
Youngkin also vetoed Deeds’ SB 383 and its companion measure HB 454, sponsored by Del. Katrine Callsen, D-Albemarle County. Both proposals sought to keep firearms and explosives off of public buildings owned by the commonwealth, including the state Capitol and colleges.
On Tuesday afternoon, Deeds turned to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, to vent his frustration. “News this afternoon that 2 more of my bills, prospectively banning assault style weapons, and keeping guns off college campuses are being vetoed. Shameful and unthinking action,” he wrote.
Among the other measures that Youngkin rejected were HB 175 and SB 99, which would have expanded to all local governments in Virginia the authority to ban the public carrying of loaded assault weapons, and HB 318 and SB 491, which sought to give the state attorney general’s office and local government lawyers greater power to sue the gun industry under a bill that creates a civil cause of action for firearm-related injuries.
Younkin further vetoed several measures seeking to expand Virginia’s so-called red flag law, including HB 916, which would have required Virginia State Police to create a database updating lawmakers on how many red flag orders are being issued and which localities are using them, and SB 258, which would have given judges and magistrates clearer guidance on which factors to consider when reviewing requests for red flag orders.
The governor’s latest flurry of vetoes brought his total number of rejected bills this year to 80. Since assuming office in early 2022, Youngkin has vetoed 121, the same number that former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat and the most recent governor facing a legislature controlled by the opposing party, rejected during his four years in office.
But Youngkin did not reject all gun-related legislation that Democrats sent to his desk this year. For example, he signed HB 36 and SB 44, which aim to ensure community safety by preventing parents from willfully allowing a child who poses a credible threat of violence to access a firearm.
He also signed HB 22 and SB 210, which prohibit the manufacture, transfer or possession of an auto sear, an illegal device which converts guns into automatic weapons, and he amended six gun-related bills that, if adopted, “will make it harder for criminals to use guns in the commission of a violent act.”
Del. Michale Jones, D-Richmond, who represents a district experiencing high rates of gun violence, applauded Youngkin for signing HB 22, which he sponsored.
“My constituents sent me to the General Assembly with a mandate to take action on this critical issue, and this bill is an important step forward,” Jones said in a statement. “These devices are exacerbating the already acute gun violence crisis communities like mine are facing. This law is a critically important step in our ongoing efforts to prevent senseless tragedies.”
For a full list of legislation that Youngkin acted on Tuesday, click here.