Gun rights advocates push again for sanctuary
NEWPORT NEWS — A month after gun rights activists filled Newport News City Council chambers to advocate for the city to declare itself a Second Amendment sanctuary that opposes gun control measures, many activists returned Tuesday to advocate for that cause once again.
The response from the council did not change much over the last month.
Councilwoman Pat Woodbury was the only member in December to say she supported declaring a sanctuary, which she reaffirmed Tuesday.
She said there was not enough support on council to get a resolution on the agenda. The rest of the council did not have much to say at the meeting about gun control measures beyond thanking people for coming to speak.
In December, Mayor McKinley
Price and Councilmen Dave Jenkins and Marcellus Harris opposed declaring the city a sanctuary. Councilwoman Saundra Cherry and Vice Mayor Tina Vick said they needed to learn more about the issues and bills. Councilwoman Sharon Scott was not at the meeting.
About 20 people, most donning “Guns Save Lives” stickers, spoke against gun control Tuesday, particularly any measure that restricted ownership or the types of firearms and magazines that could be purchased.
Many said guns are essential to self-defense and a feeling of personal security, especially in a climate where people fear mass shootings. They said people who own guns illegally and use them to cause harm will still get their hands on weapons.
During the public comment period, City Attorney Collins Owens noted that Senate Bill 16, which speakers in December frequently referenced, did not make it out of committee. The bill would have expanded the definition of “assault firearms” and outlawed the possession, sale or transfer of those weapons, along with magazines that could hold more than 10 rounds.
Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats, including the bill’s sponsor Sen. Richard Saslaw, voted to strike the bill on Monday.
After Owens spoke, some in the crowd responded that the House version of the bill was still on the books. That bill has yet to make it to a committee for discussion.
Other gun control measures — implementing universal background checks, limiting sales to one handgun a month, allowing localities to ban guns in certain places and creating an extreme risk protection order — were passed out of a packed Senate Judiciary Committee meeting Monday.
Some speakers also asked the council to rescind a resolution it passed unanimously in June that supports “gun violence prevention legislation” in the General Assembly, including a ban of “assault weapons, suppressors, bump stocks, and large capacity ammunition feeders.” The resolution came in the weeks following the mass shooting in Virginia Beach.
“We believe that when we put political ideology aside, it is possible to adopt common-sense policies that will reduce this carnage without infringing on the rights of lawabiding citizens,” the resolution reads.
Gun rights advocates filled about half of the room in City Hall, sitting alongside attendees advocating for other causes. More people came to the meeting than the room could accommodate.
A few spoke in support of certain gun control measures while also saying they support the right to own a gun. A couple highlighted an extreme risk protective order as a change they believed should be made. Others also mentioned proposals for magazine capacity limits and the required reporting of a lost or stolen gun within 24 hours.
Localities across Virginia have declared themselves sanctuaries for the Second Amendment or Constitutional localities, often in front of packed and overflowing meeting rooms, ahead of the current state legislative session and a Democratmajority General Assembly.
Attorney General Mark Herring, a Democrat, issued an opinion saying the Second Amendment sanctuary resolutions have “no legal effect,” and that localities and constitutionally sworn officers such as sheriffs and commonwealth’s attorneys must enforce any new gun laws passed by the General Assembly.