Department of Justice figures suggest that about 40% of all firearms used in crimes are obtained via straw purchases.
Those statistics inspired a gun-rights advocate and state lawmaker to sponsor a “straw purchase” bill that has now passed both houses of the General Assembly. As Tommie McNeil reports, his goal is to help reduce the number of incidents like the Newtown and Virginia Tech shootings.
Senator Tom Garrett says in most recent mass shootings, the shooter had some documented level of instability prior to the incident. In the case of William Spengler, who set his New York house ablaze so that he could target firefighters, he was already prohibited from owning a firearm, but someone acquired a weapon for him. While Garrett says this incident has escalated the argument about gun control, he also says there’s been too much focus on the inanimate object and not on the people responsible for senseless acts of violence.
“This will hopefully help to send the message that we take this seriously that there’s real time coming if you buy a gun for someone that you know is prohibited by law from having that gun, and also will help to get people who do this off the streets.”
A straw purchase of a firearm is already a felony in Virginia, but this law stiffens the penalties and imposes mandatory minimum sentences for both the person who obtains the weapon and the recipient. The bill now heads to the Governor.
-by Tommie McNeil
Virginia Public Radio 