Virginia Senate Passes Red Flag Gun Seizure Bill Two Days After Second Amendment Rally

The Virginia state Senate voted Wednesday to advance a "red flag law" bill, one of many gun safety measures Democrats are looking to move through the state Legislature after taking control of both chambers.

The bill -- SB 240, also known as an extreme risk protective order -- creates a procedure for authorities, including law enforcement officers and attorneys, to apply for an emergency substantial risk order to prohibit "a person who poses a substantial risk of injury to himself or others from purchasing, possessing, or transporting a firearm." Under the proposal, if such an order is issued, a judge or magistrate can issue a search warrant to remove firearms from that person.

The state Senate passed the measure in a party-line vote of 21-19. It now moves to the state House of Delegates for consideration.

Jake Rubenstein, a spokesman for Virginia House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, said later Wednesday that the chamber "will deliver" on demands for "common sense gun violence protections."

West Virginia lawmakers introduced a resolution on Tuesday inviting Virginia's Second Amendment sanctuary counties to legally secede and "be admitted to the body politic of the State of West Virginia." https://t.co/E1TVHecmU0

— Chris Menahan 🇺🇸 (@infolibnews) January 15, 2020

A bill introduced in the West Virginia House would set the foundation to create a gun sanctuary state by prohibiting enforcement of past, present and future federal gun control. Passage into law would represent a major step toward ending federal acts that infringe on the right to keep and bear arms within the state in practice and effect.

Del. Joe Jeffries (R-Putnam), along with 10 Republican cosponsors, introduced House Bill 4168 (HB4168) on Jan. 14. The legislation would ban any person, including any public officer or employee of the state and its political subdivisions, from enforcing any past, present or future federal "acts, laws, executive orders, administrative orders, court orders, rules, or regulations" that infringe on the right to keep and bear arms.