GOVERNOR'S VETO

Pursuant to Article V, Section 6, of the Constitution of Virginia, I veto House Bill 585, which criminalizes home-based firearm dealers who maintain their place of business at their residence within one and a half miles of an elementary or middle school.

By all appearances, this legislation targets one individual in Prince William County, to whom the Prince William Board of County Supervisors granted a home-based firearms license.

The legislation's specificity, coupled with the circumstances preceding its passage, comprises a bill of attainder. Consequently, it is unconstitutional under Virginia's Bill of Rights.

Home-based firearm dealers are already subject to comprehensive federal, state, and local regulations. The imposition of this restriction on a lawful commercial activity appears unconstitutional, retaliatory, and arbitrary.

Accordingly, I veto this bill.