The Libertarian Republic reports that Virginia’s legislature just pushed its thumb into Governor McAuliffe’s eye — and then twisted it around and around and around:
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s promised push for stricter gun control laws ended abruptly Monday, when Republican legislators killed his gun control bills in a state Senate committee.
McAuliffe wanted the Republican-controlled legislature to act on eight gun control measures, including requiring background checks at gun shows, revoking concealed carry permits for parents behind on child-support payments, and renewing a law that limits handgun purchases to one per month.
None of the bills made it out of committee Monday, reported The Washington Post. A separate bill introduced by a Democratic senator that would ban children under four from using a gun also failed.
Even better, the Senate then pushed through a couple of alternative measures:
Republicans dismissed the plan as political posturing, and the Senate committee instead passed through a bill that would allow people to get a lifetime concealed carry permit, and a bill that would allow concealed carry on school properties in some cases.
“It was an awesome day,” Philip Van Cleave, pro-gun Virginia Citizens Defense League president told The Virginian-Pilot.
The Republican supermajorities in Virginia aren’t about to reinstitute a raft of recently repealed gun-control legislation and then add some more on top? What a remarkable surprise that is.
The two counter-measures will be vetoed, of course. Still, this is a lovely reminder of T-Mac’s impotence, and of the joys that a divided government can occasionally bring.