After 12 people were shot dead in Virginia Beach, Ralph Northam takes on the Republican legislature
ON MAY 31st a gunman walked into a municipal office in Virginia Beach and slaughtered 12 people, most of them colleagues he had worked with for years, before he was killed in a gun battle with police. The killer—whom the police have referred to by name only once, part of a move to strip mass shooters of their notoriety—used two semi-automatic handguns, both bought legally. He also used a silencer and extended ammunition magazines, which are also legal in Virginia.
Mr Northam, a Democrat who has long been an advocate of stricter gun controls, said he also wanted lawmakers to vote on bills to compel gun buyers to undergo universal background checks, to limit gun purchases to one a month, and to allow authorities to seize the weapons of those deemed a threat. He said that while mass shootings made headlines, far more Virginians were killed in smaller incidents—1,028 in 2017 alone. He cited the case of a little girl who was shot dead in a park last week.
Mr Northam, a doctor who has described treating children and soldiers for bullet wounds, made gun-control a big issue in his campaign for the governorship in 2017. But his efforts have so far failed. Republicans, who hold narrow majorities in Virginia’s House and Senate, have blocked all such efforts, including a push, in January, to ban high-capacity magazines. “They have never received a fair hearing”, Mr Northam said.
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