This year’s General Assembly Session has brought with it numerous bills regarding guns. Unfortunately, the majority of those bills are to expand guns rights and reduce limitations. Bills in the House and Senate include those that repeal one gun a month, allow faculty members to carry guns on state campuses, permit concealed weapons to be carried in bars and in houses of worship and remove restrictions on guns in courthouses, to name just a selection. But, the bill that I find most egregious is Del. Carrico’s House Bill 69 which says that a gun (or ammunition) manufactured in Virginia and retained within Virginia is not subject to federal law. Somehow, now the gun’s place of origin, exempts it from federal gun safety requirements.

I am a very strong believer in the U. S. Constitution and, as such, a believer in the Second Amendment. This country has had a long history with gun ownership and guns have played a role in the development of this country. But we, as a nation, have also decided that there are reasonable restrictions to be placed on who, when and where guns can and should be used. Those restrictions have come with significant debate, been voted on by the United States Congress, been signed by various presidents and frequently tested for their constitutionality in the United States Supreme Court.

Now, suddenly, the place of manufacture of a gun upends all of this?!

It seems somehow ludicrous. It doesn’t to the eight individuals, including a preschooler, who were gunned down last week in Appomattox whether or not the gun was made in Virginia. Nor does it matter to the 32 students and teachers (and scores of others who were wounded and maimed) by a deranged individual at our own Virginia Tech just a few short years ago. The place a gun originated doesn’t matter to the innocent child sleeping in his or her bed who is the victim of a drive by shooting or the elderly woman walking to her car who is shot by an armed robber.

Gun advocates frequently tell us that “Guns don’t kill people; people kill people.” Well, if that is true then the person aiming and firing the gun has the same legal or illegal intent whether or not the gun comes from Virginia. No gun can be exempt from reasonable restrictions because of where it was made or where it has or has not traveled. The bullets in it were not any more or less dangerous or fatal because they were or weren’t manufactured in Virginia.

As I review this myriad of gun legislation before me, the majority of it to loosen our gun laws, I will continue to strive to balance the rights given by the Second Amendment with the need for reasonable gun safety measures. I take my responsibility to both uphold the Constitutions AND to protect Virginians and their families very seriously.

Please feel free to let me know what you think of this issue or any other issue before the General Assembly. I can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or at (804) 698.7509. More information about this year’s Session and my legislation can be found on my website at www.donaldmceachin.com. Thank you again for the extraordinary honro and privilege of serving you.