Virginia is now election battleground in fight over gun laws
Deep-pocketed interest groups and activists on both sides of the long-running fight over gun laws are gearing up for a major clash in Virginia, now a key election battleground in the issue after Republicans on Tuesday adjourned a special legislative session called by the governor to consider gun-control measures in the wake of a mass shooting.
The state's off-year election will be closely watched because Virginia is the only state where control of the Legislature is up for grabs in 2019. Republicans currently hold a narrow majority.
GOP lawmakers abruptly ended the session after less than two hours and postponed any movement on gun laws until after the November election. Democrats and gun-control advocates vowed to force them from office.
"If these 'leaders' won't enact solutions that their own constituents are demanding, then we're going to fight tooth and nail for representatives who will," Kris Brown, president of the Brady gun-control group, said in a statement.
Scores of gun-control advocates gathered Tuesday outside the Capitol, jeering at Republicans like House Speaker Kirk Cox. Meanwhile, hundreds of gun-rights supporters filed through a legislative office building to meet with lawmakers and in a show of force against stricter gun laws.
National Rifle Association spokeswoman Catherine Mortensen called it "deja vu in Virginia."
"The gun control lobby says this every election cycle, and time and time again the hundreds of thousands of Virginians who support their fundamental right to self-defense go to the polls," she said. "...This year the gun control lobby is screaming louder than ever in an effort to distract voters" from scandals involving top Democrats.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/virginia-now-election-battleground-fight-gun-laws-64233840
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