VA Democrats Pass Bill Making Suppressor Possession a Felony

Democrats on Virginia’s House of Delegates Public Safety Committee passed legislation Friday making it a felony to possess a suppressor in the state after July 1, 2020.

The felony applies to all suppressors, including those legally purchased through the federal background check and registered with the ATF.

The Washington Examiner reports the ban is expected to pass in the full Democrat-controlled House of Delegates. The opportunity to stop the ban will occur in the Senate, where a few Democrats have expressed hesitancy to support bans on firearms or certain accessories.

For example, on January 29, 2020, Breitbart News reported Virginia State Sen. Lynwood Lewis (D) made clear he will not support a magazine or firearm bans. He indicated his focus in solely on strengthening laws that deal with access to firearms, not laws that prohibit certain firearms or related hardware.

The bill that bans suppressor possession also bans “high capacity” magazines, making it precisely the type of legislation Lewis said he would not support.

Gov. Ralph Northam (D) made his plans for a war on guns clear in early November 2019 and has not relented. Since then Virginia Democrats have put forward legislation criminalizing private gun sales and punishing gun owners for not reporting stolen guns within 24 hours. They have also introduced legislation banning certain ammunition magazines, suppressors, and requiring owners of certain rifles to acquire a license from the state police.

Virginia Democrats are also pushing legislation to mandate that law-abiding citizens are not allowed to buy more than one handgun a month.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.