I have a number of friends who live in Virginia. They’re generally pro-gun politically, though only a few are gun people, per se. Unfortunately for them, they have Governor Ralph Northam.

The Democrat is now proposing a package of gun control legislation that he claims will make people’s lives better and safer, despite having done nothing of the kind anywhere else on the planet.

He said the package includes measures to require universal background checks; establish an Extreme Risk Protective Order; reinstate Virginia’s One Handgun a Month law; prohibit individuals subject to final protective orders from possessing firearms; ban assault firearms; prevent children from accessing firearms; and require individuals to report lost or stolen firearms to law enforcement.

“We lose too many Virginians each year to senseless gun violence, and it is time we take meaningful steps to protect the health and safety of our citizens,” said Governor Northam. “I look forward to opening a dialogue with the General Assembly on this legislative package of reasonable gun violence reforms, which appropriately balances Second Amendment Rights with public safety.”

…

The universal background check bill will close a loophole in Virginia law, and require background checks on all firearm sales, including private, or online sales.

Virginia’s one handgun a month law had been in effect for almost 20 years prior to its repeal in 2012.

Two lawmakers will sponsor legislation to reinstate the law.

Virginia has consistently been identified as a source state for crime guns recovered in other states, and this bill will help to prevent people from stockpiling firearms and transporting them for sale in other states, Northam claims.

Oh, holy crap.

First, the Second Amendment’s language is clear. The right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. Just what the hell is a law that limits people to one handgun per month besides infringement? It doesn’t actually make anyone safer. Criminals will still get guns and use straw purchases, they’ll just have to enlist more people to help them.

Additionally, there’s no “loophole” that allows face-to-face transfers without a background check. That’s how the law is written because otherwise, people have difficulty selling their personal property. There’s also the little fact that background checks create paperwork, which becomes a de facto brand of registration.

In other words, it’s not a loophole when it’s part of how the law was designed to function.

Northam is looking to restrict it because he labors under the delusion that background checks stop criminals from getting guns. They don’t. Instead, it just creates headaches for the good guys and hoops they have to jump through to buy or sell a firearm.

There’s nothing that Northam is proposing that will make anyone safer. The only potential one might be the extreme risk protective orders, but as we’ve already seen, lawmakers are making these way too vague and not providing adequate protection for the rights of gun owners. These are going to be used to punish people over personal disagreements. It’s not going to stop horrific events from taking place.

If Northam actually cared about that, he’d be trying to look at what mass shooters and violent criminals have in common, then trying to address those factors.

Instead, he’s just going through what sure as hell looks like the standard gun control dance steps, as prescribed by the Democratic National Committee. The same ones that have never worked.