VA Senate Pushes Stricter Gun Storage Law, Ban Of Weapons On College Campuses

RICHMOND, VA — A bill that would require adults to keep their guns locked up if minors are in the home was advanced by a Virginia Senate panel this week, according to reports. The bill is an attempt to strengthen the state's gun laws following deadly shootings at the University of Virginia, a Walmart in Chesapeake and a Newport News elementary school.

If someone violates the proposed law, gun owners would be found guilty of a low-level misdemeanor offense punishable by fines of up to $250, The Virginia Mercury reported.

In an hourslong hearing Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee also signed off on a measure that would ban most guns from public college campuses, according to The Associated Press.

"Make no mistake, these bills that we advanced today will save lives and hopefully provide a layer of comfort or peace of mind to those who are very well aware of the gun problem we have in our society," Democratic Sen. Creigh Deeds, who introduced the proposed bill banning guns on public college campuses, said in a statement obtained by The AP.

Sen. Jennifer Boysko, a Democrat representing parts of Fairfax and Loudoun counties, is sponsoring the gun storage bill.

"It is up to us to be the adults and protect our children from harming themselves or others,” Boysko told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday, according to the Mercury. "This is a reasonable thing. It takes nobody’s Second Amendment rights away."

Boysko’s bill advanced on a 9-6 party-line vote. It now heads to the Senate finance committee. If it clears that panel, it would then go to the Senate floor.

The bill could face hurdles in the GOP-controlled House of Delegates. Boysko said she plans to add tougher penalties to the bill after her first approach didn’t win over any Republican senators on the committee.

"It was an effort to find common ground," Boysko said on Twitter. "Too bad they put their love of guns ahead of child safety."

The bills come just weeks after police said a 6-year-old student intentionally shot his first-grade teacher at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News.

According to police, the boy took his mother's 9mm handgun to school, pulled it from his backpack and used it to shoot teacher Abigail Zwerner.

• RELATED: School Downplayed 6-Year-Old's Behavior Before VA Shooting: Report

The family's attorney told The Washington Post last week that the gun used in the shooting was kept on the top shelf of a closet and had a trigger lock. He also said the family doesn't know how the boy managed to remove the trigger lock that kept the gun from firing.

The bills are also a response to a November shooting that killed three University of Virginia football players. The accused shooter, Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., 22, was charged with three counts of second-degree murder and also faces two charges of malicious wounding for injuring two others.

• RELATED: UVA Murder Suspect Bought 2 Guns After Failing 2021 Background Check

Less than two weeks later, a gunman opened fire at a Walmart in Chesapeake, leaving six people dead.