The Republican State Senator who chairs the Virginia Crime Commission has cancelled the meeting scheduled for next week. Mark Obenshain says this week’s elections — and the comments that followed from Governor Northam – combine to make any meeting impractical. Northam has indicated the action he wants on gun laws will come next winter, when Democrats will hold majorities in both houses. The General Assembly charged the commission in July to develop recommendations on Virginia gun and public safety laws, and Obenshain says that report will be delivered in coming days. So far, the special session on gun laws that was set to resume November 18 remains scheduled.
NEWS RELEASE: Senator Mark D. Obenshain (R-Rockingham), Chairman of the Virginia Crime Commission, today announced the cancellation of the Commission’s meeting scheduled for Tuesday, November 12. “For reasons both practical and pragmatic, the Crime Commission will not meet on Tuesday,” Senator Obenshain said. “The results of Tuesday’s elections, coupled with recent comments from Governor Northam regarding the fate of the legislation we’ve been reviewing, makes holding a meeting impractical.”
According to accounts from multiple media outlets, Governor Ralph S. Northam (D), at a meeting of his cabinet on Wednesday, responded to questions concerning the ongoing Special Session by stating, “I suspect most of the work will be done in January.”
“Commission staff has been working diligently on its report, which will be released in the coming days,” Obenshain announced. “But as Governor Northam has made clear he is preparing a legislative package relating to these issues for when the General Assembly convenes two months from today, it would not be pragmatic for the Commission to continue its deliberations on these issues at this point.”
