A bill in Senate Courts of Justice today — backed by the Northam administration and put forward by Senator Howell — would make hunting with grandpa a Class 6 felony if you’re under the age of 18. From the words of SB 442:
Now I don’t know about anyone else, but does this sound just a tad bit obtuse? Are we really seeing a rash of grandpa-gone-wild stories?
More likely, the gun grabbers within the Democratic caucus are simply showing their true colors, apparently believing the Washington Post line that they actually won the election (HINT: they lost in the House).
More alarmingly for Virginians who want to really know where Democrats stand on gun control? It’s not just one gun a month and “common sense” regulations they are after… they are actually after your firearms.
UPDATE: There seems to be some confusion about the actual intent of the bill. Democrats claimed that it was an anti-teen suicide approach; Republicans saw the hand of the American Academy on Pediatrics, whose position on firearm confiscation is all too well known among those who treat the Second Amendment as sacrosanct as the First Amendment.
Thankfully our new handy-dandy recording of committee and subcommittee hearings helps clear that up magnificently as to what precisely the concerns were from Courts of Justice and the clear intent of the bill from the Northam administration.
The fun starts at the 2:28 mark. TRS will have a video of the exchange just as soon as the internet allows.
UPDATE x2: Here you go — judge for yourselves whether or not this was a poorly written bill or a gimme to gun control advocates:
Favorite parts? Have to be a tie between State Senator Creigh Deeds asking whether this bill would criminalize a young man taking his .22 varmint hunting vs. when poor Secretary Brian Moran finally stood up in an attempt to salvage the bill by reinserting “recklessly” — before seeing that the game was totally up.
One could tell by the fine point Obenshain put on his questions that everyone in the room knew precisely what both sides were driving towards. Stuart’s questions regarding hunting and whether his 17-year old son would violate the statute (Howell responded yes) tore down the curtains on this one.
Thank God for recorded committee and subcommittee hearings. Otherwise it would have been very easy to say he-said-she-said on these anti-2A bills. Hats off to VCDL and the NRA for opposing this very poorly considered piece of legislation.
