Gov. Ralph Northam (D) admitted Friday that the gun controls he introduced after the Virginia Beach shooting would not have necessarily prevented that shooting.
The Roanoke Times reports that Northam made this admission during a question and answer session with high school seniors who were gathered at Radford University.
The 762 students in attendance elected a mock government which debated how to prevent incidents like the Virginia Beach shooting, and they decided the problem rested more with mental illness than guns. When Northam came to speak to the group they challenged him on his gun control proposals, asking how any of them would have prevented the shooting.
Northam is pushing a ban on suppressors, and he suggested the gunman used one to silence his attack. Northam did not mention that the gunman had two firearms–only one of which had a suppressor–and the shots he fired were loud enough that police found and cornered him by moving toward the sound of gunfire.
Northam is also pushing universal background checks, although the Virginia Beach gunman acquired his guns “legally,” which means he passed a background check.
Northam eventually capitulated to the students’ arguments. The Times reports that he “conceded that his proposals wouldn’t have necessarily prevented the Virginia Beach shooting.”
On June 2, Breitbart News reported Virginia Beach Police Chief James Cervera’s observation that no gun control would have prevented the attack.