Brady Campaign: Virginia Gubernatorial Candidate Kilgore Panders to the Gun Lobby and its Reckless Disregard of Gun TraffickingRICHMOND, Va., Oct. 7 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following was released today by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence regarding Virginia gubernatorial candidate Jerry Kilgore:
Jerry W. Kilgore got the NRA's endorsement and immediately started discussing dismantling a state law that the group opposes. But does Mr. Kilgore even know what the purpose of a one-handgun-per month law is?
Anti-trafficking laws like one-handgun-a-month statutes have been passed by states like Virginia not to interfere with law-abiding gun owners -- but specifically, and only, to make it harder for criminals to get guns. That's because gun traffickers recruit "straw buyers" who can pass Brady background checks, to buy large numbers of guns intended for the illegal market. The Virginia law shut down these large-volume sales.
"Repealing Virginia's one-handgun-a-month law would be a stupid thing to do, because it only keeps guns out of the hands of thugs," said Jim Brady, chair of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the former press secretary to President Ronald Reagan. "Jerry Kilgore ought to have his head examined."
Before the one-handgun-a-month law 34 percent of guns recovered from crimes in the Northeast came from Virginia. That's right. Before this law, a full third of all crime guns could be traced to Virginia distribution. Within 2 years of the law going in to effect, that number dropped by more than half.
Jim Solo of the Virginians Against Handgun Violence, had this to say, "The law is working to reduce crime in our state, we don't understand why politicians would pander to the criminal element."
In addition, the Virginia State Crime Commission concluded that, "Virginia's (One-Handgun-Per-Month) statute has had its intended effect of reducing Virginia's status as a source state for gun trafficking. The imposition of the law does not appear to create an onerous burden for law-abiding gun purchasers." The success of Virginia's law led California and Maryland to adopt similar laws.
We know that Jerry W. Kilgore wants some gun owners to vote for him, but has he no consideration for the ramifications of his actions? The absurdity of his position shows the weakness of his dedication to the commonwealth, the weakness of his understanding of the issues, and ultimately, the weakness of his candidacy.