A stack of gun laws are headed to Youngkin's desk, dozens of vetoes are expected

Dozens of gun control bills are slated to head to Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s desk, but opponents and advocates alike expect few to get signed into law.

The stack of bills include measures that would ban assault weapons and “ghost guns,” strengthen background checks, forbid the transfer of a gun to a prohibited person, and increase penalties for improper firearm storage, among other legislation.

“We look, at the moment, like we’re going to get 37 different subjects of gun violence prevention bills through to his desk,” Andrew Goddard, legislative director for the pro-gun control Virginia Center for Public Safety, said. “We anticipate that he’ll veto pretty much everything.”

Philip Van Cleave, president of the anti-gun control Virginia Citizens Defense League, said he expects Youngkin to sign two of the bills. One would expand tax credits for gun security mechanisms, the other would penalize parents who don’t secure their firearms and their child ends up using it in a crime.

Youngkin spokesperson Christian Martinez said Virginia's gun laws are already among the toughest in the nation when asked about the governor’s plans for the stack of gun control bills headed to his desk. He noted that the governor is more interested in policies that would hold criminals with guns accountable than regulating firearms.

Mike Fox, a volunteer with Moms Demand Action, issued an ultimatum for Youngkin.

“He can either side with the overwhelming majority of Virginians who support common sense gun safety legislation like all of the bills that are going to be sent to him, or he can side with the gun lobby,” Fox said.

More than 70% of Virginians support measures for enhanced background checks, secure storage and a ban on ghost guns — guns built with 3D printed parts, or parts that cannot be traced with a serial number — according to a recent survey conducted by Everytown for Gun Safety.

An effort to ban assault firearms

Sen. Creigh Deeds, D - Charlottesville, an author of a bill aimed at banning assault firearms said he’s hesitant to give up on the governor, however.

“This is not something he’s taking a specific stand on in the past, so he might well sign it,” Deeds said about the bill to ban assault firearms.

That bill, modeled after the 1994 federal assault firearm ban, is slated to head to the Governor’s desk along with a House of Delegates companion bill.

The 1994 federal bill changed the criminal code to prohibit the manufacture, transfer, or possession of certain semiautomatic assault weapons. That bill expired in 2004 and Congress has been at an impasse regarding similar legislation since. That impasse has left efforts up to each state.

“There is no hope in hell that the governor will sign the bill, that’s the sad part,” Goddard said. “It really is something that needs to be done at the federal level, but I know that other states have managed to pull this off. I think it’s a bridge too far at the moment in Virginia with the current governor.”

Goddard views the efforts to write and pass the legislation in the General Assembly as laying the groundwork for the next governor. He hopes that in 2026, if a Democrat were to win the governor’s seat and the party were to maintain control of the General Assembly, the bills could pass.

“I hate it to be based on having a trifecta of Democrats, people are not split that way,” he said.

Laying the groundwork for 2026

In 2020, with a trifecta of legislative power, Democrats in Virginia passed a set of gun safety laws. Those laws included background checks for all gun sales and for people who are the subject of protective orders to relinquish their firearms. In 2021, Virginia extended the period to complete a background check before a firearm can be transferred and empowered localities to pass their own gun safety laws, according to Everytown for Gun Safety.

Lawmakers had hoped to continue efforts to tighter gun safety laws but could see a roadblock in the Republican governor’s office.

Deeds said he’s tired of waiting for gun control legislation to pass and wants the assault firearm legislation to be signed this year.

“This may well be a multiyear process, it’s already been a multiyear process,” he said.