A Virginia bill designed to ban sales of large capacity gun magazines similar to those used by the Virginia Beach shooting suspect died in committee in January on a party-line vote.
Each year, Democrats propose multiple gun-control measures, such as strengthening background checks, limiting handgun purchases to one per month and allowing localities to regulate guns in public buildings.Each year, Republican majorities in one or both chambers of the legislature vote them down, usually in committee. GOP legislators say their goal is never to infringe on people’s Second Amendment rights.
Mr Van Cleave said his group opposes all magazine restrictions, such as the 10-round limit proposed by Mr Ebbin’s bill. “DC has those 10-round restrictions and eight times the murder rate of northern Virginia, which has no limits on magazine size,” he said. Instead, with Republican support, the legislature lowered the standard under which a mentally ill person can be forced into treatment, and expanded the criteria under which a mentally ill person can be barred from buying or owning guns.The response disappointed gun-control advocates, including relatives and friends of Virginia Tech victims, who said people diagnosed with mental illness are less likely than others to commit violence with a firearm.
Virginia Beach police said their officers shot and killed the suspected shooter after a lengthy gun battle in which he used two .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun that were purchased legally. Police have not said how many rounds were contained by the Virginia Beach shooter’s extended magazines.
As if that would have stopped the creep!