Everytown, Virginia Moms Demand Action Criticize Virginia Legislature for Adjourning Without Action on Gun Safety

Legislators Convened Today at the Statehouse for a Special Session Called by Governor Northam in Response to the Shooting at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center; Took No Action

RICHMOND, Va. — Everytown for Gun Safety and the Virginia chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, part of Everytown, today responded to the conclusion of the 2019 special session on gun violence prevention, which adjourned without action just hours after beginning. Lawmakers adjourned without any hearings or floor votes on the proposed gun safety legislation, which included extreme risk protection orders, background checks, limits on high-capacity magazines and silencers. The special session was called in response to the shooting at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center, in which 12 were people shot and killed and four more were wounded.

“Just weeks after the tragedy in Virginia Beach, the Republican-led General Assembly today chose complete and utter inaction – putting NRA interests over the safety of Virginians,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “It’s time for new legislative leaders in Richmond, and Everytown and Moms Demand Action are all-in on electing a gun safety majority this fall in the Commonwealth.”

“Our lawmakers should be ashamed of themselves,” said Sibel Galindez, Virginia Beach resident and a volunteer with the Virginia chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. “Today was an opportunity for state legislators to do something about the shootings that are tearing our communities apart. Instead, they played partisan games and caved to NRA pressure. It’s time to vote out lawmakers who have shown us, time after time, that they don’t have the heart or the backbone to stand up for public safety by strengthening our gun laws.”