Virginia Democrat Pushing Background Checks at Gun Ranges

Virginia state Sen. Creigh Deeds (D) is pushing legislation to mandate background checks for state residents who wish to shoot firearms at a gun range.

The Virginia Mercury reports Deeds’ push is in response to two individuals who committed suicide at gun ranges in 2020. He is now pushing Senate Bill 1250 to make sure people undergo a background check before they handle a firearm at a range.

The summary paragraph of SB1250 makes clear that Deeds wants to classify firearm rentals in the same category as firearm sales, thereby placing them under the purview of point-of-sale background checks:

Provides that for the purposes of conducting a criminal history record information check for a firearm transfer, the term “rent” includes a temporary change in dominion or control of a firearm for use at or on the premises of a dealer’s business location in exchange for money or other consideration. Under current federal law, the rental of a firearm for use on a dealer’s business premises is not considered to be a sale, disposition, or delivery of the firearm; therefore, such rental would not allow for a National Instant Criminal Background Check System check to be performed. The bill would allow the Virginia State Police to conduct a Virginia state criminal history record information check instead.

Ironically, 2017 witnessed a surge in firearm-related deaths nationally and the vast majority of those were suicides.  Gun control groups like Everytown for Gun Safety seized on the increased firearm deaths, pushing more gun control as a solution.

But Chicago Tribune editorial board member Steve Chapman responded by suggesting gun control is not a proper response to suicides. And he did this by noting that non-firearm-related suicides outpaced firearm-related suicides, even in a year of higher numbers like 2017.

While Everytown and others pushed more gun control, Chapman observed, “The sort of gun control measures that are politically conceivable in the United States would be irrelevant. We could ban semi-automatic “assault weapons” or 15-round magazines, but neither is needed by those who want to shoot themselves.”

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 at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.