GOVERNOR'S VETO

Pursuant to Article V, Section 6, of the Constitution of Virginia, I veto Senate Bill 327, relating to age requirements for purchasing or transferring certain firearms.

The proposed legislation prohibits any individual under the age of twenty-one from purchasing ahandgun or assault firearm, two broad categories of commonly used firearms.

Of particular importance is the basic principle that the constitutionally protected right to possess a firearm is meaningless absent the right to purchase or otherwise acquire the firearm, a necessary corollary to the realization of rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment.

Recently, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that a federal law prohibiting the sale of firearms to adults under the age of twenty-one would be found unconstitutional under the Supreme Court’s ruling in Bruen. The Court stated, “[i]f the Court were to exclude 18-to-20-year olds from the Second Amendment’s protection, it would impose limitations on the Second Amendment that do not exist with other constitutional guarantee.

Accordingly, I veto this bill.