NORFOLK, Va. — As they do every year, pro-gun rights supporters gathered Monday at the State Capitol in Richmond for their annual Lobby Day.
"The right to keep and bear arms is a right so important that our founding fathers enshrined it and protected it in the Constitution," said Philip Van Cleave, the President of the Virginia Citizens Defense League.
The group doesn't want lawmakers to pass more restrictions on guns.
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This year a Democratic proposal would ban the future sale of assault weapons. Another would create liability for the owner of a gun if a minor uses it in a crime. A third bill would require a lock be included with the purchase of a gun.
"We cannot compromise, not even a little bit," one of the speakers said. "We cannot compromise because every new compromise becomes the next starting point for the next set of calls for gun control."
Still, there are strong opinions on both sides.
"We ushered in a whole new crew of people that are going to be working to put lives first," Angela Ferrell-Zabala, Executive Director of Moms Demand Action, said last week in Richmond. "There's many things that we want to do to end gun violence across Virginia."
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While guns get a lot of attention, lawmakers are also taking up other public safety initiatives, including Monday morning when the Senate Courts of Justice took up a series of Republican proposals to roll back criminal justice reforms passed in recent years.
One would increase the penalty to a felony if someone is convicted of being a repeat shoplifter.
"This just sends the message that in the Commonwealth we will protect our grocery stores. We'll protect our small businesses," said State Sen. Mark Peake (R-Lynchburg).
The bill failed to advance.
Another proposal from Peake would add the possibility of jail time if someone violates their probation, but it too was killed in the committee.
"There's no reason to do that," said Brad Haywood from Justice Forward Virginia. "That's a pointless use of incarceration and there's a reason we passed these reforms."
