A Life or Death Vote: Election Day Must be a Referendum on Gun Violence

On May 31^st, 12 people were killed and four were injured in Virginia Beach, VA. It was the worst shooting in American history since November 18^th, when 12 people were shot and killed at the Borderline Bar and Grill in California.  Virginia loses roughly 26 people per month to gun deaths, 1,000 each year.

Reacting to the horror in Virginia Beach, Virginia’s Governor Ralph Northam called a special legislative session. The session, held on July 9th, opened and ended in less than two hours. There was no debate, no vote, no legislation.  The NRA, which lobbies steadily and hard on Republicans, especially members of the House’s Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety (MPPS) where gun bills originate (and where gun violence prevention bills “go to die”), declared victory.

The unconscionable disregard for human life and for the public’s right to safety coupled with full regard for its NRA supporters, places a stark and crystal-clear choice in front of Virginia’s voters who will go to the polls on November 5^th, a day on which every state legislator faces re-election.  

While other states throughout the nation are beginning to enact common gun safety laws like “Gun Violence Restraining Orders” (aka Extreme Risk Protection Orders) that would remove guns from individuals proven to be a danger to themselves or others, Virginia’s MPPS Committee has denied such bills any oxygen at all.  Other bills denied the light of day include universal background checks, child access prevention, restoring the one handgun a month restriction, and the banning of assault firearms, bump stocks, high-capacity magazines and silencers.

The MPPS Committee has also smothered gun safety bills by opposing bills to prevent the printing of untraceable 3D-printed guns, bills that allow local governments to ban guns in government buildings, and bills that require applicants for concealed carry permits to show competence with firearms via an in-person test.

While opposing bills that would save lives, these legislators consistently offer dangerous pro-gun bills that endanger lives, among them a bill that would enable concealed carry in Virginia without a permit, a bill that would grant a concealed carry permit to anyone without any background checks.

At the July 9th special session, the Republican-led Virginia legislature did not take a single vote on new legislation to reduce gun violence.  

Thoughts and prayers – and no action — have been offered while Virginia’s victims (and roughly 13,000 Americans to date) continue to die by gun violence.

While the legislature did not vote on July 9th, on November 5th, Virginia’s citizens will. 

And they will, hopefully, vote on the basis of a belief shared by both the government and the faith community, namely, that the safety and well-being of people are paramount, not the well-being of the gun industry.