McAuliffe signs gun control measures

McAuliffe has been an outspoken advocate for tighter gun control measures, but has failed to get those efforts past the Republican-controlled General Assembly.

As the Democratic governor signed the order in Richmond, alongside U.S. Sen.

The Center for American Progress, which describes itself as an independent and nonpartisan policy institute, is set to take its research and ideas to leaders in several states, including Maryland, where executive or other actions beyond new laws could address shootings, says the group’s vice president of guns and crime policy Chelsea Parsons.

Furthermore, the order calls for the Department of General Services to propose regulations that would ban all open-carry firearms in offices occupied by executive branch agencies, unless the weapon is authorized to be carried. “I think that there is leadership in Maryland as well that will be interested in working on a number of these issues, so we think there is a substantial opportunity”, Parsons says. Bill Carrico, R-Galax, as reported by the Bristol Herald Courier.

“He is putting my safety and others in jeopardy by prohibiting guns”, said Carrico, himself a retired Virginia State Police trooper.

While state lawmakers disparaged the actions of the governor, those representing the state in Washington celebrated the move. It creates a state task force to prosecute gun crimes, aimed at making sure only licensed dealers sell guns and people that shouldn’t have guns aren’t able to get them. “We’re not having any problems is any of our government buildings, but (McAuliffe) wants to suddenly make them a gun-free zone”.

McAuliffe is leading Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in Virginia, which is the home of the National Rifle Association gun lobby.

The governor in his order also asks that the task force identify areas within Virginia’s regulatory system that hamper law enforcement’s ability to pursue the illegal transfer of weapons. “It’s what the NRA has been calling for all along – for officials to enforce existing regulations and prosecute the criminal offenders to the full extent of the law”.