Sal Orlando, Assistant News Editor
The Virginia General Assembly recently passed several bills reforming gun laws, limiting who can obtain firearms, where firearms are allowed and the movement of select classifications.
Debates around the legislation — which is heading to Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s desk — heated up following a deadly shooting at Old Dominion university and threats to universities across the state.
Deadly ODU shooting, campus threats
On March 12, 39-year-old Mohamed Bailor Jalloh entered the campus of Old Dominion University, shooting and killing ROTC instructor Lt. Col. Brandon Shah.
The shooting was not the first in Virginia. It follows the deaths of University of Virginia student athletes Devin Chandler, D’Sean Perry and Lavel Davis Jr. at the hands of another shooter in 2022.
Virginia Tech notoriously experienced a mass shooting in 2007 that resulted in the deaths of 32 people and the wounding of dozens of others.
Following the ODU shooting — the University of Virginia, Bridgewater College, George Mason University, Randolph-Macon College and Longwood University all faced bomb threats.
Timothy Porter, a second-year math student, said he feels safe on campus regarding guns, but does not feel the same in the broader Richmond area.
“The area on campus is pretty safe itself, in that it’s pretty insular, but it’s easy to have areas in transit between different parts of campus where it feels a lot more risky,” Porter said.
Ezra Hughes, a second-year computer science student, went to high school in the Richmond area and felt jostled by the shooting near Monroe Park a few years ago.
The Huguenot High School shooting outside the Altria Theater in 2023 killed two individuals and injured several, according to VPM.
“On campus specifically, I feel safe, just because of how robust the VCU alerts are, and I’m constantly reminded that things are being dealt with,” Hughes said.
VCU sent out an alert to students last week regarding a shooting that killed one person on the 300 block of North Monroe Street — three blocks away from some campus buildings.
Gun reforms awaiting Spanberger’s signature
Senate Bill 749, patroned by Saddam Azlan Salim, D-Fairfax, prohibits the sale, manufacture, import, purchase or transfer of an assault firearm. A violation would be classified as a Class 1 misdemeanor and individuals charged could face up to a year in jail, a $2,500 fine or both.
The bill passed the House of Delegates with a 59-35 vote, and the Senate with a 21-19 vote. It now awaits a signature or veto from Gov. Abigail Spanberger.
“The kind of weapons that this is trying to limit are the kind of weapons that are most often used for mass casualty incidents,” said Andrew Goddard, legislative director of the Virginia Center for Public Safety. “The facility to have very high velocity rounds, and many of them without changing, without having to reload, is something that most shooters decide is very beneficial to them because they can get a lot of casualties and the wounds that they inflict are incredibly difficult to survive.”
Goddard’s son was a victim of the shooting at Virginia Tech in 2007 and survived four shots from a handgun.
“If you need 30 rounds to defend yourself, you’re being attacked by some small country, so the idea of getting these out of circulation or reducing the number in circulation is going to reduce the number of mass casualties,” Goddard said.
Goddard said threat assessments on suspected individuals can be an effective measure to reduce mass casualty events. He believes the best measures are those taken before an event happens.
“The whole point is we need to have way too many guns,” Goddard said. “If we can reduce the number and availability of guns to people who have no real ability to use them safely, that would be helpful.”
Goddard said that a registration system, similar to the one for machine guns, can help ensure “dangerous people” do not get access to assault weapons.
“There are a lot of bills coming through today that will chip away at the death toll, probably much more successfully than the assault weapons ban, to be honest with you,” Goddard said.
House Bill 1525 would prohibit people under the age of 21 from buying a handgun or assault firearm if it becomes law. House Bill 1015 would prohibit individuals convicted of assault and or battery from possessing a firearm.
Senate Bill 272 would limit who can carry firearms at public universities. Senate Bill 173 would prohibit the possession of a firearm in hospitals that provide mental health services or developmental services.
Clara Elliot, lead instructor of ATW Firearms Instruction, thinks the assault weapons bill is ill-conceived and very poorly timed.
“It’s not going to have the real effect that they want it to because we have so many of them already in existence because it’s such a common use firearm,” Elliot said.
ATW Firearms Instruction offers a safe space where marginalized communities can receive firearms classes, self-defense classes and community support, according to their website.
Elliot said that because there are so many assault weapons residing outside the state, the bill will not prevent circulation within the commonwealth. She said that all gun law is based on a history of racism and classism.
“Law enforcement is always gonna have guns, people who are wealthy will always be able to buy their way around some of these loopholes and that kind of stuff,” Elliot said. “It’s a matter of just trying to keep the average American and the marginalized communities from being able to defend themselves in a time where we see our rights being diminished on a daily basis.”
Elliot said the underlying cause of gun violence is the removal of state and national safety nets, such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits and mental health assistance.