RICHMOND, Va. -- Less than two hours after beginning a special session called in response to a mass shooting, Virginia lawmakers abruptly adjourned Tuesday and postponed any movement on gun laws until after the November election.
Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam summoned the Republican-led Legislature to the Capitol to address gun violence in the wake of the May 31 attack that killed a dozen people in Virginia Beach. He put forward a package of eight gun-control measures and called for "votes and laws, not thoughts and prayers."
But not a single vote was cast. Republican leaders said the session was premature and politically motivated. They assigned the state's bipartisan crime commission to study the Virginia Beach shooting and the governor's proposed legislation.
In reply, Democrats and gun-control advocates said Republicans were beholden to the gun lobby.
"I wasn't expecting much, but I wasn't expecting this," said Andy Parker, whose journalist daughter, Alison Parker, was shot to death on live TV in Virginia in 2015, along with a cameraman.
"This is just a complete, disgraceful act of cowardice by the Republicans ... and I think it's going to backfire on them," Andy Parker added.
Republicans countered that it was Northam who acted improperly.
They said the governor was pushing for votes on legislation that would not have prevented the Virginia Beach shooting and that he should have called for a blue-ribbon commission to study gun and mental-health issues. That is similar to what U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine did as governor after a 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech that left 32 people dead and more than a dozen wounded.
"Quite frankly, we need to take a little bit deeper look at these issues and actually do something rather than stage manage a vote in which we're just trying to embarrass each other," said state Sen. Mark Obenshain, a Republican.
After the Virginia Tech massacre, the state passed a law prohibiting people deemed seriously mentally ill from buying a gun. But a push at the time for universal background checks failed.
Virginia is generally considered a gun-friendly state and is home to the headquarters of the National Rifle Association. The GOP-led General Assembly has spiked numerous gun-control bills over the years.
Richard Keene, a 51-year-old gun owner from Chesterfield, said the session turned out to be "a lot of hype for nothing."
"I'm a little disappointed in everyone, actually," he said. "I don't feel like the common, normal person, the normal American, is represented anymore. It's frustrating."
The special session got off to a chaotic start, with the Republican Senate majority leader averting a mutiny in the GOP caucus by publicly disavowing a gun-control bill he proposed only a day earlier.
On Monday, Tommy Norment shocked fellow Republicans by filing legislation to broadly ban guns in any government building statewide. That prompted an immediate backlash in the GOP caucus, which controls the chamber with a slim 20-19 advantage. His top vote-counter, Sen. Bill Stanley, resigned as majority whip in protest.
But the departure did not last long. Stanley said Norment apologized and asked Stanley to reconsider his resignation. The caucus quickly restored Stanley to his position, and Norment announced that he would throw out his own bill.
Outside the Capitol, Northam led a group of gun-control supporters in chanting, "Enough is enough!"
After the adjournment, Northam issued a statement saying it was "shameful and disappointing" that Republicans "refuse to do their jobs and take immediate action to save lives."
The Virginia Beach attack began when a civil engineer opened fire in a municipal building. The assailant was killed in a gunfight with police.
In calling for gun-control legislation, Northam also cited the fatal shooting of 9-year-old Markiya Dickson in a Richmond park during a May 26 cookout.
Gun-rights advocates also rallied outside the Capitol and filed through an office building to meet with lawmakers. Some made their way through the Capitol with handguns openly visible in holsters, which is permitted.
Jim Snyder, a 69-year-old gun owner from northern Virginia, said the Virginia Beach shooting had not changed his beliefs.
A Section on 07/10/2019