Northern Virginia legislators are decrying Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s recent veto of a bill to keep firearms from the homes of domestic abusers.
Youngkin vetoed 157 bills on Monday (March 24), including Sen. Barbara Favola’s (D-40) Senate Bill 744 and Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker’s House Bill 1960 — identical pieces of legislation that amend existing Virginia law by removing firearms from the hands of convicted domestic abusers.
“Guns and domestic violence are a lethal combination and these deaths are preventable,” Bennett-Parker said in a statement. “These bills were a common-sense fix to ensure that illegal guns stay out of the hands of convicted domestic abusers. I’m incredibly frustrated that the Governor vetoed our ability to protect women who are dying at the hands of their abusers through better enforcement of our existing laws. The Governor has made Virginia less safe for women and families.”
Youngkin has vetoed the measure for the second year in a row, and Bennett-Parker and Favola’s statements mirror their reactions to last year’s veto.
Specifically, the bills prohibited convicted domestic abusers from transferring their firearms to minors or anyone living in their household.
The General Assembly will reconvene next month to consider Youngkin’s amendments and vetoes.
Youngkin said that he vetoed bills that he thought took Virginia “backward.”
“…I have vetoed bills that I think will take the Commonwealth backward by raising the cost of living, hurting our strong job growth, stifling innovation, undermining our All-American All-of-the-Above Power and Energy Plan or making our communities less safe,” Youngkin said.
Favola said she was “deeply disappointed,” but not surprised by the veto.
“I am deeply disappointed, but not surprised, that Governor Youngkin has once again chosen to stand with the NRA (National Rifle Association) and the gun lobby rather than protecting women and victims from deadly domestic violence,” Favola said. “The governor likes to use public safety as a talking point, but when given this opportunity to save innocent lives, he has now twice turned his back. Virginians deserve more than this governor’s empty rhetoric: we need a leader who is willing to take action to protect women and families and keep lethal weapons out of the hands of convicted abusers.”
Youngkin also vetoed Sen. Adam Ebbin’s (D-39) Senate Bill 1450 to tighten restrictions on gun manufacturers.
There were at least 115 domestic violence-related murders in Virginia in 2021, and 65% were by firearm, according to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Paul Friedman, executive director of the Alexandria-based nonprofit Safer Country, said that with the veto, Youngkin has fallen short of his obligation to protect Virginians.
“Abused individuals who obtain protective orders are primarily at risk from their armed abusers, not from strangers,” Friedman said. “As he did last year, Youngkin has failed to take action to keep guns out of unsafe hands, ensuring that some women will be harmed or killed by people whom we know should not have access to guns.”
The bill summary is below:
Firearm transfers to another person from a prohibited person. Provides that a person who is prohibited from possessing a firearm because such person is subject to a protective order or has been convicted of an assault and battery of a family or household member may transfer a firearm owned by such prohibited person to any person who is not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing such firearm, provided that such person who is not otherwise prohibited by law from possessing such firearm is 21 years of age or older and does not reside with the person who is subject to the protective order. Under current law, there is no requirement that such transferee cannot be younger than 21 years of age and cannot reside with such prohibited person. The bill also provides that such prohibited person who transfers, sells, or surrenders a firearm pursuant to the provisions of the bill shall inform the clerk of the court of the name and address of the transferee, the federally licensed firearms dealer, or the law-enforcement agency in possession of the firearm and shall provide to the transferee a copy of the form certifying that such person does not possess any firearms or that all firearms possessed by such person have been surrendered, sold, or transferred. The bill also provides that a person who is prohibited from possessing a firearm because such person is subject to a protective order or has been convicted of an assault and battery of a family or household member shall be advised that a law-enforcement officer may obtain a search warrant to search for any firearms from such person if such law-enforcement officer has reason to believe that such person has not relinquished all firearms in his possession.
