(HB2241)

GOVERNOR'S VETO

Pursuant to Article V, Section 6, of the Constitution of Virginia, I veto House Bill 2241, relating to the purchase, possession, or transportation of a firearm following a misdemeanor conviction of a hate crime.

I join the patrons in the unyielding condemnation of anyone who attacks or discriminates against another because of their race, color, religion, ethnic or national origin, sex, age, sexual orientation, or disability. The people who commit these heinous crimes should be punished by the full extent of the law. This is why I signed bipartisan legislation last year to further safeguard all individuals within the Commonwealth from unlawful discrimination.

Hate crimes are the most serious of offenses, which is why, under current Virginia law, there are extremely limited instances in which a hate crime remains a Class 1 misdemeanor instead of a felony. If an offense deemed a hate crime is violent or results in the injury of another person then that offense is automatically elevated to a felony, at which point gun rights are stripped. If the legislature seeks to prevent individuals convicted of hate crimes from accessing firearms, a more effective and constitutional approach would be to elevate all hate crimes to felonies, rather than prevent those convicted of misdemeanors from possessing firearms without a statutory process for restoring their constitutional rights.

This bill proposes to remove constitutional rights from persons convicted of misdemeanors without clear provisions outlining the timeline or procedure for those rights to be restored. While I remain committed to ensuring that the most serious crimes are met with punishments that effectively promote prevention and safeguard our communities, I do not support the practice of stripping constitutional rights for offenses deemed misdemeanors by our courts, particularly without clear provisions ensuring that the restoration process for those rights aligns with the procedures already in place for felonies.

Accordingly, I veto this bill.