Gun rights: Prince William Supervisors urge red flag law

A new Prince William Board County Supervisors will meet for the first time at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, and it will begin where the last Board left off — gun rights.

The newly elected Board members that took office January 1 have put forth a new resolution urging state legislators to pass so-called red flag laws that limit residents’ ability to get firearms and provide more money to law enforcement which is on the front lines dealing with those who have a mental illness.

For that part, the resolution states:

Prince William County Police Department, like other local law enforcement departments, is often the first to be called upon to address those with mental illness who engage in behaviors that impact personal and/or public safety; the department is committed to assisting individuals in Prince William County who are experiencing an emotional crisis; the department has trained nearly 200 County police offices in the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) program to improve the nature of police interactions with people living with mental illness; and in 2018, the Police Department transported 555 emotionally disturbed patients to various medical facilities throughout the state encompassing approximately 7,551 staff hours.

As for guns, it states:

…the Prince William Board of County Supervisors urges the members of the Virginia General Assembly to address gun violence prevention in Virginia by passing gun safety legislation including:

• Support legislation, while preserving due process, to properly allow an appropriate court of law to temporarily limit an individual’s access to firearms when they are deemed a threat
to themselves or others;

• Eliminate potential background check loopholes by requiring background checks for all gun purchases through a Federal Firearms License;

• Support laws to limit child access to firearms to reduce adolescent suicides and accidental adolescent shootings;

• Additional funding from the Commonwealth for firearms safety education across the Commonwealth;

• Waiving sales tax on gun safes and gun safety locks to help promote such safe gun handling practices; and

• Strong penalties for adults that allow unsafe access to firearms by children

The meeting will be held at the Prince William County Government Center at 1 County Complex in Woodbridge.

On December 10, 2019, the Board held its last meeting of the year. It was also the last meeting for Corey Stewart, former At-large chairman who successfully pushed for the passage of a resolution declaring Prince William County a “constitutional county” where the rights of law-abiding gun owners would be upheld.

That night, it became one of 87 counties, 10 cities, and 18 towns that have passed some sort of 2nd Amendment Sanctuary, or constitutional county resolution in the wake of proposed gun legislation in Richmond designed to limit the types of firearms that can be purchased, and the number of rounds that can be stored in a firearm magazine.

More than 1,000 people rallied at the Prince William County Government Center in support of gun-rights protection that night. It was the largest crowd of people to descend onto the government center in more than a decade.

This latest resolution by the Prince William Board of County Supervisors does not repeal the December 10 vote. It goes on to state:

the Prince William Board of County Supervisors wishes to express its commitment to the rights of law-abiding citizens of Prince William County to legally keep and bear arms.

The Virginia General Assembly 2020 session begins on Wednesday.