FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 18, 2019

MEDIA CONTACT:

Andrew Patrick

apatrick@csgv.org

202-408-0061 x 1017

Virginia House Subcommittee Follows Senate Counterparts, Ignores the Will of Voters on Gun Violence Prevention

Richmond, VA— One day after the Virginia Senate Courts of Justice Committee rejected numerous popular gun violence prevention bills, the House of Delegates followed suit. The rigged subcommittee known as Militia, Police, and Public Safety #1 brought up numerous popular, commonsense, life-saving gun violence prevention bills and killed them on party lines.

Coalition to Stop Gun Violence Virginia State Director Lori Haas issued the following statement:

“Once again, Virginia Republicans have killed popular policies that could save the lives of Virginians. The message coming from the Virginia House of Delegates — which Republicans control only because of the flip of a coin — is that they don’t care about their constituents. They simply don’t care.

“Popular policies — like universal background checks, extreme risk laws, child safety laws, and even the banning of guns in Virginia libraries — were killed on party line votes.

“The National Rifle Association (NRA) and Virginia Citizens Defense League are national jokes, but their minions in the General Assembly continue to do their bidding. It would be laughable if it weren’t so devastating to the lives of Virginians.

“The good news is that this won’t happen much longer. Democrats dominated the elections of 2017 and 2018 on the message of gun violence prevention. They will continue to do so in 2019.

“As I said yesterday, November will be here soon.”

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