Bills from the House of Delegates that seek to expand gun rights come today before a new subcommittee weighted with Senate Democrats that appears to have been created to shoot them down.
But the man who would be inclined to sign a number of those bills into law -- Gov. Bob McDonnell -- said killing legislation in subcommittee puts too much authority in the hands of too few.
"I've been critical of killing bills in subcommittee," McDonnell, a former delegate from Virginia Beach, said this week during a meeting with reporters and editors at the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
"I don't think you ought to do that. I think you ought to have the full committee act on bills."
House bills on the docket of the Senate Courts of Justice special subcommittee include House Bill 49, which would repeal the one-gun-a-month limit on handgun purchases; House Bill 69, which would exempt Virginia-made guns and ammunition from federal gun laws; and House Bill 1070, which would allow holders of concealed-weapons permits to bring their weapons into emergency shelters.
The panel also will consider House Bill 236, which would change the restrictions on discharging firearms near residential areas; House Bill 79, which would restrict public access to court records of applications for concealed-handgun permits; and House Bill 490, which would develop a plan to issue lifetime permits for concealed handguns.
The Virginia Senate, led by Democrats, and the House of Delegates, led by Republicans, make their own rules with regard to the structure, membership and authority of committees and subcommittees. In fact, the tactic of a "kill bill" subcommittee is in use by the House.
Traditionally, the practice in the Senate Courts of Justice Committee has been to review legislation in civil and criminal subcommittees, and then present the committee reports, complete with recommendations to approve or reject bills, before the full committee.
But on Monday, Sen. Henry L. Marsh III, D-Richmond, chairman of the Senate Courts of Justice Committee, said the special subcommittee has the authority to give the bills a full hearing.
Bills that do not pass will not be taken up by the full committee. Subsequently, they will not be able to advance to the full Senate for consideration.
The five-person special subcommittee is made up of four Democrats -- Linda T. "Toddy" Puller and Janet D. Howell, both of Fairfax County; L. Louise Lucas of Portsmouth; and Marsh. Frederick M. Quayle of Chesapeake, a centrist, is the lone GOP member.
The Democrats on the subcommittee generally are opposed to laws making it easier to purchase, carry and discharge firearms. On Monday, they said they would not support a repeal of the one-gun-a-month law.
McDonnell, a Republican, said that when he served as chairman of the House Courts of Justice Committee, he insisted that "Democrat or Republican, everybody would have a fair hearing in the full committee."
He said that meant that "subcommittee recommendations would be just that -- recommendations" and that the full committee would make the final determination.
"I think that's the fair way to do it, as opposed to having just a small handful of legislators have the unbridled authority to kill legislation," McDonnell said.
Contact Jim Nolan at (804) 649-6061 or jnolan@timesdispatch.com.
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