Youngkin Split on Loudoun Delegation’s Gun Bills

Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Tuesday acted on 40 proposed gun laws sent over by the General Assembly, including two introduced by Sen. Russet Perry (D-31) and four patroned by Sen. Suhas Subramanyam (D-32). Of those six, the governor vetoed four, signed one and sent another back with a recommended amendment.

The signed law prohibits the manufacture, sale, possession, transfer and transportation of an auto sear. An auto sear is defined as a device, not a trigger activator, designed to convert a semi-automatic firearm to shoot automatically more than one shot without manual reloading by a single function of the trigger.

That bill was introduced by Perry and co-sponsored by Subramanyam.

“[This] is a bipartisan bill that bans auto sears, small pocketable devices that enable the user to turn a handgun into an automatic weapon,” Perry stated. “I championed this legislation because kids and families in our communities deserve the peace of mind and sense of safety knowing that, amidst quickly changing technology, we can keep rapid-fire weapons off the streets. With the governor signing my bill into law, the commonwealth will be able to prosecute these crimes at a state level and our communities will be safer.”

Perry said the bill passed the General Assembly with bipartisan support.

Youngkin sent back a recommendation on a bill that would prohibit the manufacturing of undetectable firearms, including those made with a plastic material not detected by security scanners or without serial numbers.

He said he approved of the overall purpose of the bill, but his recommendation included establishing a standard that would make the act a crime only if it was done knowingly. The amendment also would make the crime punishable by mandatory minimum sentences for using a firearm in the commission of a felony.

The four vetoed bills sponsored by Subramanyam would have established a five-day waiting period for firearm purchases after undergoing a background check; prohibited the importation, sale, manufacture or purchase of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and prohibited certain weapons from being carried in public.

In a statement outlining his reasons for vetoing the bills, Youngkin said the proposed five-day waiting period would “impede individuals facing threats of violence from promptly acquiring a firearm for self-defense” and that Virginia’s existing background check ensures individuals already prohibited by state or federal laws cannot legally purchase firearms.

Subramanyam said he thought a five-day “cooling off period” would go a long way to reducing suicide and homicide deaths.

“I’ve heard of too many stories of people buying a gun and shooting themselves,” he said. “As a [former] volunteer firefighter and EMT, I responded to attempted suicides.”

He said each gun-related suicide attempt he responded to was successful, but when attempted by other methods the first responders were often able to save the person’s life.

“Guns are very effective way of committing suicides and I think there needs to be a cooling off period between wanting to buy gun and getting it,” he said.

Another bill sponsored by Subramanyam would have prohibited a person from carrying a semi-automatic center-fire rifle with a magazine capable of holding more than 10 rounds, or a semi-automatic rifle with a detachable magazine that has either a folding, telescoping or collapsible stock, a pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the rifle, a second handgrip or protruding grip that can be held by a non-trigger hand, grenade launcher, flare launcher, sound suppressor, flash suppressor, muzzle brake, muzzle compensator or a threaded barrel capable of accepting any of those additions. Semi-automatic shotguns capable of holding more than seven rounds or capable of similar additions would also have been included in the bill.

In response to that bill, Youngkin said the Virginia Constitution prohibits legislators from outlawing a broad category of firearms that are “widely embraced for lawful purposes, such as self-defense.”

The bill uses a Virginia Code definition of assault weapon that means any semi-automatic center-fire rifle or pistol that expels projectiles and has a magazine with more than 20 rounds of ammunition or is designed to accommodate a silencer or folding stock.

In his reasoning for vetoing the prohibition of carrying automatic weapons in public, the governor said a law already exists that does not allow brandishing a firearm or holding a firearm in public places that reasonably induce fear of violence.

He said prohibiting carrying a broad category of firearms in public spaces such as sidewalks, roadways, and parks is “unconstitutional.”

Subramanyam said Youngkin’s decision to veto 30 gun-related bills was a “missed opportunity.”

“The community wants to prevent gun violence and not live in fear and people want to feel safe in public spaces,” he said. “We presented common sense solutions to addressing gun violence and this was opportunity to address it and unfortunately the gun lobby won the day.”

A second bill sponsored by Perry and vetoed by the governor and would have added “intimate partner” to the language of current laws prohibiting family members from purchasing and transporting firearms following a misdemeanor conviction of domestic violence assault and battery.

Youngkin stated in his veto explanation that while he condemns domestic abuse, he opposed Perry’s bill. Changing the definition of “family or household” would have far reaching effects in juvenile and domestic courts and custody cases he said.

“Individuals convicted of felony assault and battery already automatically lose their firearm rights,” he stated. “This proposal, however, aims to extend the prohibition of firearm possession for misdemeanors beyond existing restrictions for family and household members. It would now encompass a vaguely defined category of intimate partners without an objective standard.”

Perry said this bill was an attempt to “close the ‘boyfriend loophole’” in Virginia law calling it an oversight that allows individuals continued access to firearms because they are not married or do not live with their partners.

“As of 2024, 41 states and the District of Columbia have been able to close the ‘boyfriend loophole.’ Many of them used the same definition of 'intimate partner' used in my bill, which the governor attempts to hide behind in justifying his veto. The fact that many states have adopted this definition and been able to successfully prosecute abusers is antithetical to the governor’s comments, and highlights at best his ignorance and at worst his acquiescence to the rampant and deadly killing of intimate partners by firearms,” she stated.

This article was edited at 4:33 p.m. March 28 to more accurately depict the firearm descriptions included in the bills.