Henrico's VanValkenburg, Willett introduce legislation promoting secure gun storage  

Virginia Senator-Elect Schuyler VanValkenburg and Delegate Rodney Willett have introduced legislation designed to strengthen Virginia’s child firearm access law and incentivize the safe storage of firearms by holding irresponsible gun owners accountable when a minor uses their firearm to commit a crime, hurt themselves or others, or bring the firearm to school.

Secure gun storage reduces youth gun violence dramatically, according to at least one study, which found that households that lock firearms and ammunition see up to 85 percent fewer unintentional injuries.

House Bill 36 and its identical Senate companion impose a class one misdemeanor for a firearm owner if a minor uses a firearm to commit a crime, brings a firearm on school premises, or intentionally or with gross negligence causes bodily injury and harm to themselves or another person. The bill also makes it a felony if the firearm owner knows or reasonably should have known that the child within close proximity to the firearm has been charged, convicted, or adjudicated of a violent crime or the subject of a school-initiated threat assessment where the threat is moderate, high, or eminent.

"We believe this legislation will indeed save future lives and we are thankful to Senator VanValkenburg and Delegate Willett for introducing it,” said Dr. President Kristina Powell of the Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The parents of Lucia Bremer, a 13-year-old Henrico middle school student who was shot and killed by another Henrico student in 2021, also expressed support for the bill.

"Lucia is dead, in part, because a gun owner chose to leave his semi-automatic handgun easily accessible to his troubled teenager, who he knew to be a danger to others," said Jonathan and Meredith Bremer. "Our family and our community were shocked to learn that under Virginia law, this gun owner could not be held accountable in any way.”

Virginia law currently only prohibits anyone from recklessly leaving a loaded, unsecured firearm in such a manner as to endanger the life or limb of any child under the age of 14. Virginia has no laws that require unattended firearms to be stored in a certain way or require firearm owners to affirmatively lock their weapons.

For the full text of the legislation, visit https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?241+ful+HB36+pdf.