RICHMOND, Va. – Proposals for stricter gun laws quickly moved forward in the Virginia legislature on Monday, as the Democratic-led Senate Judiciary Committee sent four gun control bills to the Senate floor.
10 News political analyst Dr. Ed Lynch said the response from gun rights supporters may put pressure on some Democrats.
“There is some hope of at least moderating some of these proposals on the Senate side, and that’s again why I think they’re moving quickly. I don’t think they expect that lockstep discipline to last the whole 60 days,” Lynch said.
Proposals for stricter gun laws are quickly moving forward in the Virginia legislature, but Lynch said there are two specific reasons why the resistance may pay off.
First, the pressure on some Democrats may mean some gun control measures end up being more moderate. Lynch said some Democrats may be influenced by the Second Amendment sanctuaries that have pledged to resist new gun laws.
“That’s far more meaningful, far more far-reaching and far more persuasive evidence that Virginians were certainly voting for change but they weren’t necessarily voting for this sort of change,” Lynch said.
Secondly, Lynch thinks many gun control laws would immediately go into litigation, with some reaching higher appeals courts where they will face judges who are President Donald Trump appointees, making the gun debate outcome uncertain in the long run.