Tag: virginia

Virginia Governor Wants Amendments To Marijuana Sales Legalization Bill, Including Delayed Market Launch

Virginia’s governor is requesting that legislators make amendments to a bill to legalize recreational marijuana sales that they sent to her desk last month.

On Monday, Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) returned the measure with suggested changes—including pushing back the launch date for sales to begin by six months, from January 1, 2027 to July 1, 2027.

The move will “allow for additional time to implement a legal market safely and curb the illicit market,” a press release from the governor’s office says.

“Five years ago, the Commonwealth took the first steps to legalize marijuana—and for five years, the work sat unfinished,” Spanberger said. “We are working to set up a marketplace that is controlled, regulated, and responsible—because legal markets only succeed when there are clear guardrails and enforcement to back it up.”

“To keep our next generation safe, we must also ensure real consequences for vape shops that have spent years targeting Virginia’s kids,” she said. “We need to rein in these shady businesses and make sure a legal marijuana market does not make the problem worse.”

Under current law, adults over 21 can legally possess up to 1 ounce of cannabis. The bill as approved by lawmakers would have increased that to 2.5 ounces, but Spanberger wants lawmakers to change that to 2 ounces.

The governor’s proposal will also “strengthen the enforcement provisions” in concert with a related bill lawmakers sent her on the issue “to put a greater focus on consumer and product safety,” her office’s press release said.

Spanberger is additionally proposing that the cannabis excise tax in the bill increase from 6 percent to 8 percent after July 1, 2029, and that regulators be allowed to license only up to 200 retail marijuana dispensaries prior to 2029 instead of the 350 included in the initial wave in the bill as passed by lawmakers.

The legislature is set to reconvene to address the governor’s proposal on April 22.

Meanwhile, Spanberger signed several other cannabis bills on Monday—including measures to protect the parental rights of consumers and allow patients to access medical marijuana in hospitals. She also proposed amendments to legislation to provide resentencing relief for people with past convictions and to change rules for marijuana delivery services.

Personal marijuana possession and home cultivation of marijuana has been legal in Virginia since 2021, but former Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) twice vetoed bills to provide consumers with a way to legally purchase regulated adult-use cannabis.

The marijuana sales bills that Spanberger wants amendments to are SB 542 from Sen. Lashrecse Aird (D) and HB 642 from Del. Paul Krizek (D).

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Virginia Governor Signs Law Banning ‘Ghost Guns’

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed a bill to ban so-called “ghost guns,” another making it easier to sue gunmakers and sellers, and two other bills concerning possession of firearms by persons under court orders.

The bills – signed on April 10 – are among more than two dozen gun control and gun safety bills that the Virginia General Assembly sent to Spanberger after its regular session ended on March 24.

“Preventing gun violence is an issue of public safety – both for the officers who protect our streets and the children and families they work to keep safe,” the governor said in a statement.

Spanberger signed Senate Bill 323, which bans the manufacture, sale, and possession of firearms without serial numbers.

The new law also outlaws any gun that “after removal of all parts other than a major component, … is not detectable as a firearm when subjected to inspection by the types of detection devices, including X-ray machines, commonly used at airports, government buildings, schools, correctional facilities, and other locations for security screening.”

Senate Bill 27, which Spanberger also signed, sets standards of “responsible conduct” for firearm manufacturers, distributors, and retailers.

It calls for “reasonable controls” over the manufacture, sale, distribution, use, and marketing of firearm-related products.

It also allows the attorney general, local government attorneys, or private citizens to sue firearm businesses for injunctions, damages, and costs.

Spanberger also signed two bills concerning the possession of firearms by those under court orders.

According to Spanberger’s office, Senate Bill 160 closes an “intimate partner loophole” by prohibiting intimate partners convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence crimes from possessing a firearm.

The law adds to the definition of “family or household member,” an individual who, “within the previous 12 months, was in a romantic, dating, or sexual relationship with the person.”

Senate Bill 38 allows a person subject to a protective order or convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence and prohibited from possessing a firearm, to transfer their firearm to a person who is age 21 or older, who does not live in their home, and can legally own a gun.

These bills are the first of a slate of gun control and gun safety laws to be signed after the most recent session.

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Analysis: More Than 90 Percent Of Funds Backing Dems’ Gerrymandering Scheme Come From Outside Virginia

Democrats love to complain about big “dark money” donors trying to influence U.S. elections. But if their concerns were actually genuine, where is their outrage about the massive wave of out-of-state money flooding Virginia to pass their deceptively worded gerrymandering amendment?

According to figures compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP), the wrongly named “Virginians for Fair Elections” has received nearly $50 million to deceive voters into supporting a legally questionable ballot measure allowing the state’s Democrat-run General Assembly to redraw the commonwealth’s congressional map. The party’s current proposal would gerrymander the state’s U.S. House districts from a six Democrat-five Republican map to a 10 Democrat-one Republican map and effectively disenfranchise millions of rural Virginians in the process.

In the months leading up to the April 21 referendum, Virginians for Fair Elections has deployed dishonest ads characterizing Democrats’ gerrymandering scheme as “fair,” and claiming it’s about protecting “democracy,” a much-needed “emergency,” and “level[ing] the playing field.” But it’s clear after examining the funds being poured into the group, however, that most of its financial support isn’t coming from the Virginians it pretends it’s trying to help, but from leftist organizations based outside the state.

A Federalist analysis of the latest donation figures assembled by the Virginia Public Access Project shows that more than 90 percent of Virginians for Fair Elections’ large contributions come from Democrat-aligned out-of-state groups.

The organization’s largest contributor is none other than the D.C.-based House Majority Forward (HMF), a 501(c)(4) that boasts ties to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and House Democrat leadership. According to InfluenceWatch, HMF — which has given $29.3 million to Virginians for Fair Elections — “focuses on climate change, social justice, economics, and democracy, and produces ads in favor of Democratic candidates and opposed to Republican candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives.”

The second largest donor ($11.02 million) to Virginians for Fair Elections is The Fairness Project. InfluenceWatch describes the D.C.-based 501(c)(4) as a “labor union-backed advocacy organization that finances and supports state ballot initiative campaigns to promote left-of-center policies such as government-mandated comprehensive paid family and medical leave, Medicaid expansion, and minimum wage increases.”

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Adult Illegal Alien Who Groped Over a Dozen Girls “In Between Their Legs” at Fairfax, VA High School Found Guilty on Nine Assault Charges

An adult illegal alien who was charged for groping minor teen girls at a high school in Virginia was found guilty on nine assault charges on Thursday.

As reported last month, parents were outraged after an 18-year-old illegal alien groped over a dozen girls “in between their legs” at a high school in Fairfax County, Virginia.

The alien, identified as Israel Flores Ortiz, is turning 19 soon and is only in the 11th grade.

Why have authorities allowed a 19-year-old man – who is in this country illegally – to sexually assault minor teen girls in the hallways at school for several months??

“There’s a group of about 12 individuals that have reported this assault,” one mother told 7News.

“It was all perpetrated by a single individual who is a stranger to the girls. He just sneakily walked up behind them and put his hand in between their legs,” she said.

“It was not just a butt smack or a butt grab. It was a groping of a private area. It had been occurring for several months,” she added.

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Illegal immigrants charged in 75% of this year’s murders in Fairfax County, VA: DHS

The Department of Homeland Security revealed on Friday that of the four defendants in Fairfax County, Virginia currently facing murder trials so far this year, three of them are illegal immigrants.

“Of the four defendants in Fairfax County murder trials this year, THREE are ILLEGAL ALIENS,” the DHS wrote. “Governor Spanberger must end her sanctuary policies that allow these illegal aliens onto our streets and work with DHS to protect the citizens of the commonwealth.”

In one of the most recent cases, Misael Lopez Gomez was arrested on Tuesday and charged second-degree murder and a felony child abuse for allegedly killing his 3-month-old daughter. Preliminary results from the autopsy conducted by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined that the cause of death was blunt force trauma.

The DHS said that it had issued an arrest detainer. He allegedly admitted to entering the US illegally through the southern border near Albuquerque, New Mexico in July 2023.

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Virginia Democrats Exempt Legislators From Their Own Gun Law

The 2026 legislative session has come to a close in Virginia, but not without some last minute changes to several gun control laws that are now on their way to Gov. Abigail Spanberger. 

None of the changes benefit gun owners, except for one… and with that bill only a very select number of Virginians will qualify. 

It reads to me like Virginia Democrats did exempt lawmakers from facing misdemeanor charges if they leave one of their guns where it’s visible in their car, so long as it’s in the parking garage reserved for them. 

This isn’t just hypocrisy. This is a taunt from the anti-gun caucus in Richmond, a reminder to Second Amendment advocates that, no matter how many of them might rally on the statehouse grounds in opposition, they have the power to both pass any gun control bill they want and exempt themselves in the process. 

I asked on X whether this would be the one gun bill that Spanberger vetoes in an attempt to look moderate, but I’m not holding my breath. 2A folks are already complaining about her, so what are they going to do about one more legislative middle finger? If she vetoes the bill, though, she’s going against the gun control lobby who spent a lot of money getting her elected and the Democrat majority in the General Assembly. Maybe she lets the bill become law without her signature, but I think the law.. and the exemption for lawmakers, is going into effect later this year. 

***UPDATE***

As it turns out, while the House of Delegates did approve the language exempting lawmakers from the gun storage bill, that language did not make it in to the version that was sent to the governor. Here’s what happened: 

The Senate and House couldn’t agree on the language of HB 110, so it was assigned to a conference committee to hammer out the differences. The substitute bill that emerged on Saturday morning contained the exemption for lawmakers, and was adopted by the House on a 60-36 vote. The Senate, however, asked for a second conference committee (instead of rejecting the compromise bill outright), and the House agreed, apparently on a voice vote. HB 110 was sent back to the drafting table, and when it emerged for the second time, the lawmaker exemption was gone. The Senate quickly passed the bill and the House concurred a short time later. The bill sent to the governor can be found here. 

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Virginia Democrats Already Pushing Sweeping Gun Control After Being in Office for Barely a Month

It begins. Democrats in Virginia have been in power for barely a month and they are already pushing sweeping new gun control laws.

To make matters worse, they are doing this at a time when the country has seen four terrorist attacks on the homeland in the span of just two weeks. God forbid the American people are able to defend themselves from all of the potential terrorists that Democrats imported into the country on Joe Biden’s watch.

This is all about control.

FOX News reports:

Virginia Dems send sweeping gun ban to Spanberger as West Virginia weighs expanding machine-gun access

Virginia Democrats have sent a sweeping gun-control package to Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s desk, while West Virginia lawmakers are debating the opposite approach — a proposal that would allow residents to lawfully obtain machine guns.

The dueling efforts highlight how sharply gun policy is diverging across the old Virginia border. More than 160 years after West Virginia split from Virginia during the Civil War, the two states are again charting very different political paths — with Democrats in Richmond advancing new firearm restrictions while Republicans in Charleston explore expanding Second Amendment rights.

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signaled she looks forward to “reviewing” the sweeping firearms ban from state Sen. Saddam Salim, D-Dunn Loring, when it reaches her desk next week.

“As the mother of three daughters in Virginia public schools and a former federal law enforcement officer who carried a gun every day, Governor Spanberger knows how important it is to make sure kids and families are safe,” Spanberger’s office said in a statement to Richmond’s ABC affiliate.

“The governor is grateful for the efforts of legislators and advocates to address gun violence in Virginia communities, and she looks forward to reviewing all legislation that comes to her desk.”

Some pro-gun activists in the state have responded by handing out free AR-15 magazines.

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Democrats Advance Gun Control Blitz In Virginia With Abigail Spanberger Now In Office

Democratic lawmakers in Virginia moved forward Monday with a broad package of firearm restrictions, reviving proposals that had previously been blocked under former Gov. Glenn Youngkin as they test whether the state’s new governor, Abigail Spanberger, will support the measures.

During a nearly four-hour meeting, the Democratic-controlled Senate Courts of Justice Committee approved more than half a dozen gun-related bills addressing assault-style firearms, gun storage requirements, concealed carry reciprocity, ghost guns and firearms carried in public places.

The committee rejected the lone Republican-backed proposal, which would have increased mandatory minimum penalties for repeat firearm offenses.

All votes taken during the meeting followed party lines.

The legislative push comes amid heightened political attention surrounding gun policy in Virginia.

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40 Charges DROPPED — Then She Was Murdered

Abdul Jalloh entered the United States illegally in 2012 from Sierra Leone and subsequently accumulated a staggering criminal record in Fairfax County. His charges included rape, multiple stabbings, assaults, malicious wounding, identity theft, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Despite this extensive criminal history spanning over a decade, Jalloh remained on the streets due to prosecutorial decisions that prioritized procedural excuses over public safety. In 2020, ICE lodged an immigration detainer and a judge issued a final removal order, yet local authorities failed to ensure his deportation, allowing him to continue victimizing the community.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, who received backing from progressive financier George Soros, has faced mounting criticism for his office’s pattern of dropping serious charges against violent offenders. In Jalloh’s case, Descano’s office secured only one malicious wounding conviction while dismissing the overwhelming majority of charges, citing lack of victim participation at hearings. This excuse rings hollow to critics like Sean Kennedy of Virginians for Safe Communities, who pointed out that Descano managed to convict Jalloh once without victim input, proving such participation isn’t always necessary. Police Chief Kevin Davis defended his officers’ investigative work and indirectly held the prosecutor’s office accountable for the failures.

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Pro-Palestine Activists in Virginia Paint Watermelon Mural, Angering Black Residents Who Say it’s Racist

Pro-Palestinian activists in Richmond, Virginia have painted a watermelon mural on a local building. The seeds of the fruit are arranged to spell out ‘Free Palestine.’

The watermelon has long been a symbol of Palestinian activism, but it is also seen by many as a black stereotype and some black residents are not cool with the painting as a result.

This is a classic case of woke leftism being aligned with racist tropes and not even realizing it.

WWBT News reports:

Richmond mural supporting Palestine sparks debate over watermelon imagery in Black community

A mural is drawing attention from Black community leaders who say they don’t have a problem with the message, just the watermelon imagery.

The mural, at the intersection of Brookland Boulevard and North Avenue in Richmond’s Northside neighborhood, depicts a darker-skinned Palestinian woman holding a slice of watermelon, with the seeds spelling out “Free Palestine.”

Dr. Faedah Totah with Virginia Commonwealth University said the symbol traces back to 1967, when Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip and banned the Palestinian flag.

“The Palestinian flag has four colors, red, white, black, and green, which also happens to be the color of a slice of a watermelon,” Totah said. “So, what ends up happening when you ban the flag is that people become creative in finding different ways to express their national identity.”…

The mural is located in a historically Black neighborhood undergoing gentrification. Jonathan Davis, the former president of the Richmond Crusade for Voters and also a former president of the Battery Park Civic Association, said the imagery gave him pause.

“I was taken aback because of the imagery that it represents, a watermelon up to the mouth of a Black woman,” Davis said. “So to me, understanding the history of our people and what happened during the Jim Crow era and how those images were used to demean us and make fun of us and ridicule us and run us out of the business, it really bothered me.”

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