House advances bill to increase minimum sentence for firearms-related offenses
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A House committee voted 12-10 along party lines Monday to advance a bill that would increase the mandatory minimum sentence for firearms-related offenses in Virginia.
HB 2360, introduced by Del. Michael J. Webert, R-Rappahannock, would increase the minimum sentence for the use or display of a firearm during the commission of certain felonies from three to five years for a first offense and five to 10 years for a second offense.
Webert proposed the bill in response to the increase in crime across Virginia over the past year, specifically homicides in which a firearm was used.
“The increase in crime over the last few years has proven that we need to keep folks that are willing to do harm behind bars,” Webert said during the Appropriations committee meeting. “We saw an increase of homicides in Virginia in 2020 from 428 to 528, so we’re in an effort to keep these people behind bars and from committing felonies with a gun.”
According to the Virginia State Police 2021 crime report, there were 562 homicides in Virginia in 2021, with 446 of those deaths being caused by a firearm. The crime report for 2022 is not yet available.
The bill also increases the minimum sentence from five to 10 years for knowingly possessing any firearm within the building of a child day center or school and intending to use it, attempting to use it or displaying it in a threatening manner.
Del. Mark D. Sickles, D- Fairfax, was one of the 10 Democrats who voted against the bill. He voiced his concern over the bill’s financial validity during the committee meeting.
“With going from five to 10 years mandatory minimum, how could that only cost $48,000?” Sickles said. “I mean that looks like a really low number for another five years in the corrections department.”
The average daily operating cost per inmate in 2021 was $107.09, roughly $39,000 a year, according to a 2021 Virginia report on jail cost, revenues and expenditures,
If the bill passes in the House, the Senate would review it on “Crossover Day’” on Tuesday. “Crossover Day” is the midpoint of the session where bills passed in one chamber are considered by the other.
