Senator Creigh Deeds

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You are here: Home / Archives for gun safety

Guns, Dogs, and Pipelines

March 2, 2018 by Creigh Deeds

The 2018 Session is winding down. Our work turns to the last remaining bills. At the beginning of every session initiatives are brought forth from every corner of the Commonwealth. Sometimes a lot of excitement, even enthusiasm, surrounds those ideas. Yet when the subcommittees get to work and the questions and criticisms come, bills often disappear for the year. Certainly that has been the case this year.

Like every year, over 50 firearm-related bills were introduced this session. We considered bills to promote gun safety, to control ownership, and to reduce restrictions on ownership. At least a half dozen of these bills attempted to make it easier to carry a concealed weapon or possess a firearm. At this point in the session, the only bill I think will pass relating to firearm safety is one I introduced, Senate Bill 669. The legislation ensures a minor who is committed involuntarily shall be ineligible to possess or purchase a firearm when he or she comes of age. The law already exists for adults, and many thought this was the state of the law. However, two families reached out to me in recent years about experiences with their loved ones that suggests otherwise. While the bill has moved slowly through the process and people have been trying to research thoroughly the possible nefarious intentions of the bill, it looks like the bill will pass. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Virginia General Assembly 2018 Tagged With: Atlantic Coast Pipeline, gun safety

Changing of the Guard

January 21, 2018 by Creigh Deeds

We are nearing the completion of the first full week of the 2018 Session of the Virginia General Assembly. Last weekend we enjoyed some pageantry as Ralph Northam was inaugurated as the 73rd Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. On Monday, he gave his initial address to the legislature. The inaugural and his speech this week were similar but had different receptions.

First, the inaugural address was a broad statement of Governor Northam’s vision for the Commonwealth. It included a glimpse into the Governor’s soul and a sense of what makes him the right person, at the right time, for all the right reasons to be the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Virginia General Assembly 2018 Tagged With: gun safety, Medicaid expansion

Crossover 2017

February 3, 2017 by Creigh Deeds

Groundhog Day was yesterday, which means we are very close to the crossover of the 2017 legislative session. Crossover, which comes shortly after the midpoint of each session, is the point by which the Senate must act on all senate bills and the House on all house bills. The bills then cross over to the other side for consideration.

At the beginning of each session each legislator has goals they want to accomplish. I am no different. One hundred forty legislators sponsored thousands of bills this year and had policies they sought to advance. Now however we are in the heart of the sausage-making process, and many of those dreams have been dashed. By next Tuesday, everything but the budget will cross over from each side to the other. The pace now is frenetic. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Virginia General Assembly 2017 Tagged With: conservation, gun safety, mental health policy, power company regulation, redistricting

Snow, Guns, and Nelsonite

January 29, 2016 by Creigh Deeds

The General Assembly session is moving along quickly. Committees meet early in the morning and late into the evening. The swirl of receptions, which has always accompanied the process, continues to occur, but they are less well attended than ever. Legislators are not only more conscious of the freebies, but the past week’s snow storm and resulting cancellations has backed up our work.

While at home in Bath County, we labored under a fairly modest snow storm for this time of the year; other parts of the state struggled. My friends in Highland County and in Charlottesville told me of accumulations of 18 inches or more. The Richmond area saw similar snowfalls, and some areas in Northern Virginia received over three feet of snow. Travel was treacherous and slowed to a snail’s pace. Once the snow stopped falling, snow disposal, particularly from urban streets, became a significant problem. The Governor has indicated this storm may have been the most expensive snowstorm in the history of Virginia. The clean up alone was estimated to cost $2 to $3 million per hour, in addition to the costs of preparing the roads for precipitation and public safety. Still the General Assembly churns on.

This week saw a major shift towards some compromise on guns, although the final deal is still up in the air. Many elected officials view the issue of guns in black or white terms. Legislators either vote for gun control or they vote to protect the Second Amendment. It is very difficult to find nuanced ground.

The Attorney General seemed to throw fuel on the fire last fall when his office conducted a study of the concealed carry laws in other states, as our law requires him to do, and determined that 25 states with which we have reciprocity have weaker concealed carry laws than Virginia. In fact, in some states even those who have been involuntarily committed to mental health facilities are eligible to carry concealed weapons. As I’ve explained to people before, there is nothing radical about the Attorney General’s actions. The law calls for the Attorney General in consultation with the State Police to determine with which states we should have reciprocal agreements and make a report to the Governor and the General Assembly. A lot of people do not like what he found.

In fact, the NRA made it their top goal in this legislative session to restore the reciprocity agreements. I have heard from many of my constituents who support that view. In the end, a very rare compromise appears close on this issue. Democrats and Republicans, gun control advocates and opponents, have come together on a tentative plan to restore reciprocity with the twenty-five states along with making strides on some gun control policies.

In Virginia during 2014, 112 homicides were the result of family and intimate partner violence. Over half of those deaths involved firearms. Just last year, four people died while an active protective order was in place. This proposed compromise removes firearms from the possession of those against whom protective orders have been issued. This is a major public safety achievement.

In addition, the deal takes a first step with respect to background checks at gun shows. We have debated and discussed the gun show loophole for over a decade. Private sellers, those who sell firearms but are not federally licensed dealers, do not have to submit their buyers to background checks. Only a small portion of weapons are sold at gun shows by private sellers, but it doesn’t take but one weapon for something tragic to occur. This agreement would require the State Police to provide background checks to any private sellers who voluntarily request one of their buyers. Many people will not be satisfied as this falls short of mandatory checks, but if an agreement is reached it will be a step forward.

Proposed changes to our gun laws have been an issue of incredible contention between a legislature controlled by Second Amendment advocates and a Governor who has campaigned for gun safety and gun control. The players were destined to continue to be at loggerheads. The compromise means that everybody gives something, and we make some progress.

On a much lighter note, today the Senate passed legislation I sponsored to designate Nelsonite as the official state rock. Last fall, a group of government and geology students from Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC) came to me with this proposal. The students had done their homework. They garnered the support of the state geologist, the chairwoman of the Nelson County Board of Supervisors, our friend Connie Brennan, as well as Frank Friedman, the President of PVCC. Virginia is one of four states that does not have a state rock, mineral or gemstone. Nelsonite is named after Nelson County and had a significant impact on the local economy in the early 20th Century and is mined as far away as China. The bill was amended to include the American Dogwood as the state tree and the Northern Cardinal as the state bird. The General Assembly made those designations in the 1950s, but they were omitted inadvertently.

Earlier this week, Senate Bill 356 passed out of the Senate without opposition. The legislation directs the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to create a stakeholder group tasked with developing the Virginia Pollinator Protection Strategy. The goal is to promote best practices to protect our dwindling bee population. Landowners, beekeepers and farmers all have a shared interest in this regard, and I am hopeful my bill will receive the support of the House of Delegates.

It continues to be my high honor to serve you in the Virginia General Assembly. If I may be of service, do not hesitate to contact me. I can be reached at [email protected] or (804) 698-7525. I look forward to hearing from you.

Best,

Creigh

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Filed Under: Virginia General Assembly 2016 Tagged With: gun safety

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2021 Virginia General Assembly

Week 6: In the Homestretch

February 19, 2021 By Creigh Deeds

The 2021 Session of the General Assembly is winding down. We only have a week left in the regular session, which is anything but regular this year. We are in a pandemic, and we had to go through extraordinary means simply to meet for the normal 46 days. [Read More…]

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