Virginia: Governor Returns NRA-Opposed Amendment on Firearm Records Legislation

On Monday, Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) returned a NRA-opposed amendment for Senate Bill 377.  Sponsored by state Senator Bryce Reeves (R-17), SB 377, as amended and passed in the General Assembly, would allow gun dealers seeking to purchase, trade or transfer a firearm from a non-dealer individual to submit information on that firearm to law enforcement to determine if it has been reported lost or stolen.  Included in this process is a consent form which must contain all identification taken in writing from the person selling, trading or transferring the firearm to the dealer as well as the firearm information.  As passed in the General Assembly, SB 377 stipulates that should the firearm be determined to not have been reported lost or stolen, the dealer is required to destroy the consent form within two weeks.  SB 377 was passed unanimously in the House of Delegates on February 25 and the state Senate concurred unanimously on February 27.
Governor McAuliffe’s action to SB 377 has deep anti-gun implications.  While SB 377 as passed and sent to the Governor requires the gun dealer to destroy the consent form for a firearm determined not to be lost or stolen, the Governor’s amendment would mandate that those consent forms would be kept by the dealer for at least 90 days with no requirement to destroy them ever.  Such an amendment would create a backdoor registration of those seeking to sell, trade or transfer their lawfully owned firearms to a gun dealer.

It is imperative that Virginia gun owners call and e-mail their state Senator and respectfully urge him or her to REJECT the Governor’s amendment.  Contact information for your state Senator can be found HERE

Also, please call and e-mail your Delegate and respectfully urge him or her to REJECT the Governor’s amendment if it comes up for a vote on the House floor.  Contact information for your Delegate can be found HERE

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