By: Teresa Mull

Virginia’s new governor isn’t wasting any time in his quest to disarm his constituents.

“We lose too many Virginians each year to senseless gun violence, and it is time we take meaningful steps to protect the health and safety of our citizens,” Democrat Ralph Northam said during a press conference in which he promoted just about every firearm restriction measure there is.

Specifically, Northam is calling for the establishment of:

Extreme Risk Protection Orders

  • Otherwise known as “red flag laws,” this policy makes it legal for law enforcement to enter your home and seize your guns. Hundreds of Americans in Florida, Maryland, and Oregon have already had their guns taken. Gunpowder Magazine reported earlier this year that police invaded the home of a New Jersey veteran while he was at work and tried to seize his guns based on a conversation a child overheard at school. In Maryland, cops shot a killed a man while trying to serve an Extreme Risk Protection Order at his home.

Background Checks on All Gun Sales

  • Background checks are not effective. A recent study found comprehensive background checks have not affected California’s homicide and suicide rates over the past decade. Crime prevention researcher John Lott found, “States with these background checks experienced an increase of 15 percent in per capita rates of mass public shooting fatalities. They also saw a 38 percent increase in the rate of injury. Nor is there evidence that expanded background checks reduce rates of any type of violent crime, including mass public shootings, suicide, murder of police officers and domestic violence against women.”

Also on Northam’s agenda, according to thetruthaboutguns.com, is a law to "require gun owners to report the loss or theft of a firearm within 24 hours," an "increase in the penalty for leaving firearms unsecured near children," and “a revival of Virginia’s one-handgun-a-month law, which had been in effect for nearly 20 years when it was repealed in 2012.

“Sponsored by Del. Jeion Ward and Sen. Mamie Locke,” the website reports, “the measure would ‘prevent people from stockpiling firearms and transporting them for sale in other states,’ Northam’s office said.”

Two state lawmakers and also sponsoring a ban on so-called “assault weapons.”

Teresa Mull is editor of Gunpowder Magazine. Contact her at [email protected].