In the grim aftermath of the mass shooting in Virginia Beach in May, Gov. Ralph Northam insisted it was time for action. Thoughts and prayers were not enough, he said, as he called for a special session of the Virginia General Assembly to consider a raft of gun control proposals.

That special session began on Tuesday around noon.

An hour and a half later, it was over. The House and Senate voted along party lines to adjourn until November.

An array of proposals had been on the agenda, from universal background checks to limits on handgun purchases. Mr. Northam had insisted that bills be brought to the floor for votes rather than smothered in committees, as they often had been in the past. Many Democrats saw the session at least as a chance to force Republican legislators to put their votes on gun issues on the record, a potentially useful marker in a year when all legislative seats are up for election.

But this flyby session did not even produce that.

“It is shameful and disappointing that Republicans in the General Assembly refuse to do their jobs, and take immediate action to save lives,” Mr. Northam said in a statement. “I expected better of them. Virginians expect better of them.”