Virgina Lawmaker Takes An AK-47 Onto The House Floor

Virginia Democrat Joe Morrissey took an AK-47 onto the floor of the House of Delegates on Thursday. The Richmond lawmaker took the rifle into the building to make a point about the need for stricter gun control laws.

A Virginia subcommittee voted on the same day to kill the Joe Morrissey’s gun control bill, according to The Roanoke Times. If passed, the bill would have banned high-capacity magazines and assault rifles. Morrissey had this to say from the Virginia House floor, according to speech excerpts republished by ABC News:

“A lot of people don’t know that in many locations in the commonwealth, you can take this gun, you can walk in the middle of Main Street loaded and not be in violation of the law.”

Similar bills will reportedly be reviewed by the Senate Courts Justice Committee on Friday. The Virginia House Militia, Police, and Public Safety subcommittee met the day following President Barack Obama’s plea for Congress to pass a semi-automatic weapons ban. Some Virginia Democrats stated they should not wait for Congress to act on a gun and high-capacity magazines ban.

House Minority Leader David Toscano had this to say about passing a semi-automatic rifle ban:

“The public is going to have to rise up and let their legislators know that this is important.”

Republican Tommy Wright had this to say about passing a gun control ban in Virginia:

“What starts out as a ban or a regulation on one firearm winds up being a ban or a regulation on all firearms, or registration and then a possibility of confiscation.”

Joe Morrissey also had another bill go down recently. The Democrat had introduced a bill which would make it illegal to smoke in a car with a child younger than 13 aboard, WTVR reports.