RICHMOND — Those on both sides of the gun rights issue fired their first shots Monday, with battles being declared both inside and outside the state Capitol.
Several hundred rallied for gun rights on the morning of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, followed by an afternoon rally attended by dozens calling for stricter gun laws.
Inside the Capitol, Democrats pushed through committee changes that will make it more difficult to advance looser gun laws, while Republicans cried foul.
So far, 30 bills have been filed that would allow concealed handguns to be carried in more places and make it easier to get both guns and the permits. Gun supporters had hoped to get more bills enacted this year because Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, who took office on Saturday, supports gun rights. Former Gov. Tim Kaine often vetoed pro-gun bills.
“That pen is out of ink,” said Andrew Goddard, whose son Colin was shot four times in 2007 when a gunman opened fire at Virginia Tech, killing 32 students and faculty. “We know that we’re going to be going backward. It’s just a case of how many of those bills are going to get through, not whether they get through.”
Democrats in the Senate made that a little more difficult.
Senate Democrats gained one seat in special elections to fill those of two departing Republican senators, so that their majority now stands at 22-18. On Monday, they adjusted the makeup of several powerful committees, including the Courts of Justice Committee that hears virtually all gun-related bills, to give themselves a 10-5 majority.
Still, at least three Democrats on that committee have supported gun rights bills in the past.
“We’re going to have a battle in front of us, however we’ve fought battles before and won them,” said Philip Van Cleave, president of the pro-gun Virginia Citizens Defense League. “If they’re going to put the odds against us, that’s fine, because we’re not going to walk away disenchanted. The more obstacles they put in front of us, the harder we’ll fight.”
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