By Brandon Martin
Andy Parker, a former member of the Henry County Board of Supervisors, joined former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who plans to seek reelection, and other gun rights advocates for a virtual conversation about actions needed to prevent further gun-related violence in Virginia.
Parker, whose daughter Alison was slain in an act of gun violence in 2015, has been seeking stricter gun reforms in her honor.
“My beautiful and talented daughter, Alison, was murdered while she was doing a story on live television in 2015,” Parker said. “It was different from so many tragedies caused by gun violence because around 60,000 people in the New River Valley actually saw this happen in real time. It became one of those moments that’s indelibly etched in people’s memories.”
After losing his daughter, Parker said he was distraught before realizing how he could make a difference.
“As I was reeling that day from this soul-crushing thing, the worst thing that could happen to a father, I was grappling with ‘what do I do now with my shattered life,’” Parker said. “That afternoon, I had this epiphany that I had to do whatever it took to prevent another dad from experiencing that and going through what I was going through. This should not happen.”
Parker said he received a phone call from McAuliffe shortly after the incident.
“It wasn’t long after I had this epiphany that I got a call from you (McAuliffe) and you were the only elected official to call me that day,” Parker said. “You weren’t trying to score any political points. You were a dad, just like me, trying to offer comfort to another dad.”
In preparation for his next run at the governorship, McAuliffe has released his plan to stifle gun violence throughout the state by calling for
a “ban the sale of military-style assault firearms and high-capacity magazines; strengthening Virginia’s background check law; prohibiting open carry of firearms in certain public spaces and allowing localities to intervene when there are public safety threats; preventing domestic violence abusers from accessing firearms; banning ‘ghost guns’ and all other undetectable firearms; closing the ‘hate crime’ loophole; treating gun violence as a public health epidemic;” and expanding awareness programs.
McAuliffe said that 1,000 Virginians are killed every year from gun violence, or about three deaths each day.
“I’m proposing an assault weapon ban,” McAuliffe said. “We need this here in the Commonwealth of Virginia to get rid of these military-style assault weapons, to get rid of these large-capacity magazines. These are weapons of war. There’s no need for people in Virginia to be purchasing these.”
Parker agreed with McAuliffe’s call to ban assault weapons.
“There is absolutely no reason for anyone to own these weapons of war, for anybody other than the military to own them,” Parker said. “As we’ve seen too many times over the years, assault weapons — these AR-15s, these assault weapons–are the weapons of choice for mass shooters.
“Certainly, not all owners of these AR-15s are involved in mass shootings but there’s an awful lot of them that like to parade around publicly claiming they are protecting people when really the only thing they want to do is make up for their shortcoming by displaying their big assault weapon,” Parker said. “They don’t want to protect. They just want to intimidate.”
McAuliffe said work still needs to be done on expanding background checks, as transfers of firearms are not currently covered.
“Now that Virginia has required background checks on all gun sales, we must expand the law to
cover transfers of ownership,” McAuliffe said. “It’s simple. If you want to give a gun to a friend, the person receiving it should have to undergo a background check.”
Guns are also getting in the hands of individuals through other means, according to McAuliffe.
“We need to get rid of these ghost guns that we have where there’s no serial numbers. They buy these kits, or they are made from 3-D printers, and they are dangerous,” McAuliffe said. “We need to have better protections.”
Other advocates on the virtual conversation also reiterated the need for more legislation.
“I’m determined to do the work of the gun violence prevention movement in the Commonwealth of Virginia to save lives,” said Lori Haas, director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence in Virginia. “Many, many, many things were done last year but, as (McAuliffe) has pointed out in his package and in his GVP platform, we have a long way to go. We have more work to get done in the Commonwealth. We do want to regulate and ban assault weapons in the Commonwealth, especially on our streets. We need to do more about firearm suicides in the Commonwealth. We need to address, as (McAuliffe) said, the three-gun deaths that happen every day in the Commonwealth. And we know that those are happening, frankly, in too many communities of color and too many places and spaces where there are root causes of violence that also need to be addressed.”
These minority communities have been shaped by the presence of guns for a long time, according to the Rev. Emanuel Harris.
Among most African – American men, Harris said “it’s probably hard to find somebody who hasn’t been impacted by gun violence. It’s so easy for me to count family members, cousins who have been murdered. Friends I’ve played basketball with who, over the years, have been murdered. People who may not have been murdered but they were in a situation where they were forced to carry a gun where they felt it was for protection because everyone had guns. When you get to the root causes, you will help alleviate some of the gun violence.”
During his previous tenure as governor, McAuliffe proposed stricter gun laws.
He signed an executive order banning guns in most state buildings, proposed numerous bills,
vetoed 15 bills that would have further weakened Virginia’s gun laws and passed a bipartisan gun safety law which required the Virginia State Police to be present at every gun show in the Commonwealth to run voluntary background checks on private sales.
“I think the way that all of these initiatives can get done starts with we’ve got to get you (McAuliffe) elected to be our next governor and Democrats have to keep control of the General Assembly because if we don’t, you know what the other side is going to suggest — thoughts and prayers — and that doesn’t get it done,” Parker said.
To find out more about McAuliffe’s proposed gun policy, visit https://terrymcauliffe.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Terry-McAuliffe-Boldly-Confronting-Gun-Violence-Plan.pdf.
