Kaine, Warner introduce federal gun bill on Virginia Tech shooting anniversary

WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — U.S. Senators for Virginia, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, introduced federal gun legislation Tuesday on the 17th anniversary of the Virginia Tech shooting.

The bill’s provisions are modeled from Virginia’s statewide gun legislation passed in 2020 that a release from Kaine’s office called “commonsense gun violence prevention measures.”

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The Virginia Plan to Reduce Gun Violence Act, would mandate reporting of lost and stolen firearms, prevent children from accessing firearms and more.

This legislation would also federalize Lucia’s Law which holds parents responsible in letting their child access a gun if they pose a known threat to themselves or others. Lucia’s Law goes into effect in Virginia on July 1.

Kaine, who was the state’s governor at the time of the Virginia Tech shooting, said in a virtual press conference that the measure is an effort to continue and further the reforms he worked on.

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“I just feel like I have more to do, and it makes me happy that Virginia has taken steps. I was able to get some reforms done when I was governor, in the aftermath of the shooting at Virginia Tech, but some of the big reforms I wanted to do like background checks, I was not able to get enough done in my own view,” Kaine said.

The bill pays tribute to the 32 lives lost in the shooting, who would likely be alive today if effective legislation had been in place, according to Kaine.

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