Krizek remains committed to passing ‘gun violence prevention legislation’
By State Delegate Paul Krizek (44th District):
Last week was an extremely busy one in Richmond. On Monday and Tuesday, Aug. 19-20, 2019, I joined my colleagues on the Virginia State Crime Commission for full days of meetings regarding gun violence prevention legislation.
This meeting was called following the abrupt end to Governor Ralph Northam’s Special Session last month to address the epidemic of gun violence.
On Monday, Aug. 19, we listened to presentations given by experts from federal and state agencies as well as various other organizations on gun violence prevention.
On Tuesday, Aug. 20, witnesses invited by the Crime Commission, as well as members of the public, had the opportunity to offer their testimony.
Afterwards, patrons of the many bills being discussed offered their own brief presentations. It was good to see so many citizens travel from all over the state to be present and offer their views on this critical issue.
If you were unable to be present to offer your own testimony, it’s not too late to submit your public comment. You can submit those by email at comments@vscc.virginia.gov or by mail to: Virginia State Crime Commission, 1111 East Broad St., Ste. B036 Richmond, Va. 23219. You can review a comprehensive list of proposed legislation on the State Legislative Services website. The deadline to submit written public comments to the Crime Commission is Sept. 30, 2019 at 11:59 p.m.
One invited presenter, Claire Boine, an expert in this area and researcher at Boston University, provided evidence about how universal background checks and other laws can reduce gun violence. She suggested that the following three initiatives would be most effective:
Prohibiting people who have been convicted of violent misdemeanors from possessing guns;
Giving authorities the discretion to reject applications for concealed carry permits; and
Enacting universal background checks.
“If you adopt these three laws as a package,” said Boine, “you can reduce overall homicides by 36 percent, which for the state of Virginia would mean 124 people per year.”
However, despite strong testimony from many presenters like Dr. Boine, I remain disappointed that the debate on these life-saving pieces of legislation had no opportunity to take place in regular committee hearings during the special session in early July.
In committee, these bills could have been properly explained, amended and improved upon with ample time instead of relegated to just two minutes per bill timed presentations. More importantly, the longer we wait to act on these bills, the more lives we lose.
I remain committed to passing common-sense gun violence prevention legislation that will save lives in our community and throughout Virginia—the sooner the better.
Virginia House Dems Press Release: Crime Commission Meetings Show Public and Expert Support for Gun Violence Prevention
In addition, Tuesday morning began with the Joint Money Committee Meeting between the House Appropriations Committee and the House and Senate Finance Committees with an address by the Governor. At this meeting, the Governor gave an overall outlook of the state of the economy in the Commonwealth and outlined his priorities for the biennial budget that he will propose this fall.
There was some very good news presented, including that Virginia has ended the fiscal year with a surplus of $797 million. $344.4 million of that total will be set aside in reserve funds to shore up the Commonwealth’s AAA bond rating, which is especially critical as the country is likely heading into a recession.
In addition, it was reported that unemployment in Virginia has held steady at 2.9 percent, and $20 billion in business investments have been made already this year across the Commonwealth.
Governor Northam emphasized that with his budget, he intends to prioritize initiatives that level the playing field for small, women, and minority-owned businesses. I was glad to hear that more funding will be put into early-childhood education, which will ensure that every Virginia child gets started on equal footing with their peers, and leads to a strong workforce for the future.