Richmond City Council unanimously passes Mayor Stoney’s ordinance requiring reporting of lost and stolen firearms
During
its November 12 meeting, Richmond City Council unanimously passed an ordinance requiring
any person who loses a gun or has one stolen in the City of Richmond to report
the loss or theft to the Richmond Police Department.
The
ordinance, proposed by Mayor Stoney and introduced on October 14, intends to
prevent the trafficking of lost and stolen guns, which are more likely to be
used in criminal offenses. At the time of introduction, 354 firearms had been
reported stolen in the City of Richmond.
The
legislation aims to prevent gun crimes before they occur by requiring gun owners to report lost or stolen
firearms to police within 24 hours of realizing a loss or theft has occurred. The reporting requirement became
effective upon passage.
“I’m
thankful City Council took this important step to help prevent
gun violence in Richmond,” said Mayor Stoney. “This reporting requirement isn’t
a fix-all, but this additional
level of accountability and responsibility will
go far toward protecting our
community and providing police with another tool to keep our communities safe.”
Mayor
Stoney acknowledged the support and assistance of gun safety groups, including Moms Demand Action,
Everytown for Gun Safety and community advocates who have been directly
impacted by gun violence.
“This
commonsense gun legislation is an important step for the City of Richmond, but
it should also serve as a call to action for state lawmakers,” Mayor Stoney
said. “I urge members of the
General Assembly, both the incumbents and the newly elected, to not just codify
this simple change into state law but to embrace the opportunity before them –
the opportunity to meaningfully address gun violence in our Commonwealth by
approving Governor Northam’s proposed gun safety reforms. Every Virginian
deserves to feel safe and secure.”
Richmond
City Council also voted on a motion to amend Ordinance No. 2019-288, which
proposes prohibiting distracted driving while using a handheld communications
device.
The
amendment aims to mitigate concerns that the original language required law
enforcement to make real-time decisions based on potentially subjective
understandings of what constitutes evidence of diverted attention.
The
original ordinance reads, in part, “any person who drives a motor vehicle on
any public street or highway in the city while using any handheld personal
communications device [where such use diverts such person’s attention from the
operation of the motor vehicle] is guilty of distracted driving.” The amendment
removes the bracketed phrase, clarifying that any use of a handheld
communications device while driving constitutes distracted driving.
The
change ensures that drivers within city limits will be held to a uniform
standard under the law.
The
proposed distracted driving ordinance, with the amended language, has been
continued to the December 9 meeting of Richmond City Council.
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