Virginia used to be one of the more pro-gun states in the nation, and they were well on their way to becoming even more so. Unfortunately, anti-gun officials started getting elected and the state started rolling hard for the left.

The Second Amendment was no longer respected in the Old Dominion State.

Now, a bunch of new gun control laws are set to go into effect on July 1st.

At least five new gun control laws take effect in Virginia on July 1.

The new slate of policy changes comes after Virginia’s Democratic majority passed sweeping reforms in 2020, including a red flag law, a “one handgun per month” policy and expanded background checks.

In the 2021 session, the General Assembly went even further, though the changes are generally more technical.

“In the last year and a half, Democrats have shown how powerful the majority can be,” House Democratic Majority Leader Charniele Herring said in a statement. “These measures are about common-sense gun safety, to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and away from at-risk individuals with the intent to harm either themselves or others.”

Starting July 1, most people won’t be allowed to bring a gun or any other weapon to Capitol Square in downtown Richmond. Any firearms or explosives carried in violation of this law are subject to seizure and forfeiture.

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Democrats also led a push to ban firearms within 40 feet of polling places with some exceptions. Levine said a majority already did this by nature of being located at schools but the new law will ensure outliers are covered.

Another reform clarifies that school boards can generally ban guns in buildings that they own. This comes after a 2020 policy change that gave local governments the option to adopt stricter gun control policies in various places.

One of the most contentious gun safety debates of the 2021 session was over the scope of a bill to restrict firearm access for certain domestic abusers.

The new law sponsored by Del. Kathleen Murphy (D-Fairfax) prohibits a person convicted of misdemeanor assault and battery of a family or household member from purchasing, possessing, or transporting a firearm for three years following their conviction.

However, after getting push back from some Senate Democrats, Murphy said the bill was limited to domestic offenses against romantic partners, effectively excluding violence targetting children, siblings or roommates.

Honestly, some of these bills are extremely problematic as they are, but some could have been much worse. Yes, I’m talking about Murphy’s bill.

Look, it’s one thing to try and cut down on domestic abusers getting guns, but when you try to lump in fights between roommates or siblings as somehow the same as those who abuse their romantic partners, you’ve skated way too far from anything approaching normality.

That was a slightly dodged bullet, though I still hate anything that prevents those guilty of misdemeanors from buying guns. If the crime warrants such a thing, make it a felony and be done with it.

Unfortunately, I doubt this will be the last bit of insanity we’ll see come out of Virginia.