Posted on 01/27/2020 9:44:09 AM PST by John Semmens
Despite their proclaimed intent to “make Virginia safer from gun violence,” the Democrat majority in the legislature voted to kill HB 1175. This bill would’ve increased the penalty for using a gun in the commission of several felonies.
House of Delegates member Chris Hurst (D-Phil) called the measure “an attempt to distract us from our mission to disarm all the people of this state. Our opponents would like to narrow the focus to only those who use guns to commit crimes. The population of criminals is but a tiny fraction of those who own guns. Penalizing only the use of guns in criminal acts overlooks the 99% of the population who are not currently criminals. We cannot be safe if this population is allowed to freely own and carry firearms.”
Fellow Delegate Dan Helmer (D-Fairfax) pointed out the discriminatory intent of the GOP bill by reminding that “for the 99 percent cited by Chris, guns are just a hobby or avocation. Taking their guns away leaves them relatively unscathed. For the 1 percent targeted for extra punishment by the Republicans, guns are tools of trade. A robber’s ability to support his family would be seriously diminished if he couldn’t use a gun. The longer prison sentences proposed for using guns to ply their trade is unduly harsh. Democratic principles require that all members of society be treated equally. Our Party’s universal ban on gun ownership implements equality. The GOP bill does not.”
In related news, not content with their assault on the US Constitution’s Second Amendment, the Virginia legislature is considering an assault on the First Amendment. House Bill 1627, introduced by Delegate Jeffrey Bourne (D-Richmond), would implement criminal penalties for “excessively harsh or strident criticism of state government officers including the governor, Governor-elect, lieutenant governor, lieutenant governor-elect, attorney general, or attorney general-elect, a member or employee of the General Assembly, a justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia, or a judge of the Court of Appeals of Virginia.”
if you missed any of this week's other semi-news/semi-satire posts you can find them at...
https://azconservative.org/2020/01/26/nj-gov-announces-road-closure/
“There is all the difference in the world between treating people equally, and attempting to make them equal.” – Frederich Hayek
Gun control has nothing to do with keeping firearms out of the hands of criminals or getting criminals off the streets, it is all about criminalizing law abiding citizens.
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