Virginia House advances 1-gun-a-month repeal

The House of Delegates has given preliminary approval to legislation repealing Virginia's one-handgun-a-month law.

Del. Scott Lingamfelter's bill will be up for a final House vote Wednesday.

The 1994 law allowing people to buy no more than one handgun in a 30-day period was intended to eliminate Virginia as a major source of guns used in crimes in the Northeast. Lingamfelter, a Republican from Prince William County, said a national system for checking the background of gun purchasers has made the gun limit unnecessary. He also said federal law prohibits transporting handguns across state lines.

Democratic Del. Joe Morrissey of Henrico County said repeal of the law would erase nearly two decades of progress in blocking people from buying multiple guns and reselling them out of state.


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