Virginia House Passes Bills to Ban Firearm Sales, Increase Minimum Wage

The Virginia House of Democrats successfully passed HB 1 and HB 2, which would see the minimum wage in the commonwealth raised to $15 per hour by 2026 and make the sale or transfer of “assault firearms and certain ammunition feeding devices” a misdemeanor criminal offense.

Filed by Delegate  Jeion Ward (D-Hampton), HB 1 would see Virginia’s current minimum wage of $12 per hour increased to $13.50 per hour in 2025 before increasing to $15 per hour in 2026. It passed through committee with partisan votes, and narrowly passed in the House of Delegates with 51 votes in favor and 49 votes against.

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Biden-Appointed Judge Declines to Block New Mexico Gun Ban

A federal judge declined on Wednesday to block Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s ban on firearms at parks and playgrounds.

U.S. District Judge for the District of New Mexico David Urias, a Biden appointee, declined to block Lujan Grisham’s emergency public health order banning firearms from being carried in public parks and playgrounds from taking effect, according to the court document. Urias temporarily blocked Lujan Grisham’s initial 30-day order banning all firearms from being carried in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County on Sept. 13, prompting her to issue the amended order two days later restricting guns only in specified areas.

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New Mexico Gov. Partially Reverses Gun Ban, Narrows Scope to Parks and Playgrounds

Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday amended an order banning gun possession that was restrained by a federal judge, seeking to narrow its focus to certain areas, according to an announcement on social media.

Grisham’s initial order, announced on Sept. 8, banned the possession of firearms outside private property in the city of Albuquerque and its encompassing Bernalillo County after declaring gun violence a public health emergency, which prompted widespread condemnation, including from gun control advocates. On Friday, Grisham wrote she would be narrowing the scope of the order to public parks and places where children gather, according to a post on Twitter, now known as X.

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Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks New Mexico Governor’s Gun Ban

A federal judge temporarily blocked Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s public health order banning the carrying of guns in public, according to Reuters.

U.S. District Judge for the District of New Mexico David Urias, a Biden appointee, found the order to be unconstitutional, Reuters reported. Grisham issued the 30-day public health order banning the right to open or conceal carry guns in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County on Friday. “They just want the right to carry their guns,” Urias said in reference to the plaintiffs, according to Reuters.

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Plaintiffs Get Partial Win in Lawsuit over Winchester Gun Ban Ordinance

A circuit court has granted a temporary injunction blocking City of Winchester’s ban on guns in parks and public permitted events, but leaves intact a ban on guns in city buildings. That’s a partial win for the plaintiffs well over a year after the lawsuit was first filed.

“Boy, do the wheels of justice turn slowly in this country, wow,” Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) President Philip Van Cleave told The Virginia Star. “You know, it’s an injunction. We were hoping to get something like that fairly quickly.”

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Albemarle County Considers Gun Ban on County Property

After lengthy discussion, public hearing, and a pro-gun protest outside the Albemarle County Office Building, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors (BOS) decided to postpone a decision on a gun ban on county property. In the board’s virtual meeting Wednesday, many public speakers spoke against the proposed ordinance, while others argued for a gun ban. But the supervisors seemed to take a more nuanced approach, discussion exemptions for concealed handgun permit holders and trying to make sure people wouldn’t accidentally violate the law.

Vice Chair Donna Price said, “One of the interesting things when you talk about weapons/guns: on either extreme there are people who believe there should be no regulations or total regulation, and both parties argue that if you don’t follow their belief, that there will either be anarchy or tyranny. And I tend not to believe either of those to be likely.”

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Loudoun County Approves Gun Ban with Exception for CCH Permit Holders in Parks

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors approved a gun ban in parks, county buildings, and at permitted events in a six to three vote March 2. The vote is the culmination of months of consideration of the ban, made possible by legislation passed in the 2020 General Assembly.

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