Center for American Progress

The Virginia special session on gun legislation doesn’t have to be a farce
In the News

The Virginia special session on gun legislation doesn’t have to be a farce

Chelsea Parsons and Ed Chung argue that Virginia's special session on gun legislation should focus on commonsense measures to address the factors contributing to gun violence, rather than an ineffective, tough-on-crime approach.

In the aftermath of the horrific mass shooting in a municipal building in Virginia Beach on May 31 that left 12 people dead and four others injured, a surprising thing happened in the state capital. Rather than the usual round of empty “thoughts and prayers” by some policymakers and passionate calls for action by others, Gov. Ralph Northam (D) announced that the Virginia legislature would indeed be called on to take action in a special session focused on proposals to prevent gun violence, scheduled to begin Tuesday.

But there are indications that the special session will be made a farce by legislators more eager to play politics than address an urgent public safety issue.

The above excerpt was originally published in The Washington Post. Click here to view the full article.

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Authors

Chelsea Parsons

Vice President, Gun Violence Prevention

Ed Chung

Senior Fellow