Bill Amendment: VA HB585 | 2024 | Regular Session
Bill Title: Home-based firearms dealers; prohibited near schools, penalties.
Status: 2024-04-17 - House sustained Governor's veto [HB585 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2024-HB585-Governor_s_veto_explanation.html
GOVERNOR'S VETO
Pursuant to Article V, Section 6, of the Constitution of Virginia, I veto House Bill 585, which criminalizes home-based firearm dealers who maintain their place of business at their residence within one and a half miles of an elementary or middle school.
By all appearances, this legislation targets one individual in Prince William County, to whom the Prince William Board of County Supervisors granted a home-based firearms license.
The legislation's specificity, coupled with the circumstances preceding its passage, comprises a bill of attainder. Consequently, it is unconstitutional under Virginia's Bill of Rights.
Home-based firearm dealers are already subject to comprehensive federal, state, and local regulations. The imposition of this restriction on a lawful commercial activity appears unconstitutional, retaliatory, and arbitrary.
Accordingly, I veto this bill.
