News Flash

Jan. 10, 2020 - Hampton City Council issued the following statement on gun issues at its meeting Wednesday:

"We want to acknowledge the many people who came to our last Council meeting and this evening's meeting to address pending gun legislation at the General Assembly. We are so proud of how many people chose to positively engage with us on both sides of the issue. The audience was very passionate and yet also very respectful. This is Hampton - a very diverse and engaged community. We did not address the audience after the last meeting as we wanted to deliberate on all the voices. Today we want to collectively address the issues.

We all took an oath of office to support the US and Virginia Constitutions, including the constitutional right of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms. While the General Assembly is considering a number of pre-filed bills related to gun control in the Commonwealth, the Hampton City Council is concerned that the potential effect of some of these bills could result in the criminalization of law-abiding citizens in Hampton.

We support sensible gun legislation such as the two policy positions we presented in our legislative package. Therefore, we urge all Virginia legislators to approach gun legislation with great care and full consideration of 2nd amendment concerns."