As the state of Virginia deals with redistricting chaos, the new governor is back in the spotlight for another reason. Earlier tonight, Abigail Spanberger (D) signed Virginia House Bill 626 into law. Virginia’s General Assembly passed the bill, which bans the carrying of firearms within buildings located on public colleges and universities.
While the intention behind the bill may be noble, the law could very likely end up at the US Supreme Court due to its impact on the 2nd Amendment.
The legislation, sponsored by Del. Katrina Callsen, was signed during a University of Virginia ceremony tied to campus safety efforts following the 2022 shooting at UVA that killed three football players: Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr. and D’Sean Perry. Spanberger’s office said HB 626 and companion Senate Bill 272 clarify that only law enforcement officers, ROTC cadets and U.S. military personnel may carry firearms at public institutions of higher education in Virginia. Gun-rights activists oppose the bill because they view it as another restriction on the ability of law-abiding citizens to carry firearms for self-defense. The National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action criticized HB 626 and SB 272 as part of a broader package of “anti-gun legislation,” saying the bills limit who can carry firearms at public institutions of higher learning.
Depraved and deranged individuals who are determined committ a major act of violence don’t show any concern for such bans. If a person is legally permitted to carry a firearm elsewhere in Virginia, gun-rights advocates argue that person should not lose the practical ability to defend himself or herself simply by entering a public college building. They also argued that decisions about firearms should be left to individual colleges and universities, rather than imposed statewide.
Virginia’s governor and other Democratic leaders continue to push forward partisan policy in the wake of the recent SCOTUS decision which rendered their newly drawn Congressionl maps usesless.