GOVERNOR'S VETO

Pursuant to Article V, Section 6, of the Constitution of Virginia, I veto House Bill 2009, which would compel a chief law enforcement officer to provide a certification for the transfer of a machine gun into his locality. Further, House Bill 2009 would create a process to circumvent the chief law enforcement officer if he does not provide a certification within 60 days.

Under federal law an individual must receive a determination of lawful eligibility at the federal and state level to register to possess a machine gun. Current law allows for the chief law enforcement officer's discretion in making these determinations. A chief law enforcement officer should not be mandated to approve the transfer of machine guns into his community.

Virginia families and communities are safer with fewer machine guns. I see no compelling reason to circumvent the current process and force machine gun certifications on local law enforcement officials.

Accordingly, I veto this bill.