Virginia Senator Richard Stuart, a practicing attorney, said the recently signed gun storage law is unreasonable for rural communities like the Northern Neck and he believes it “turns everyday law-abiding citizens into criminals.”

SB 348 was led by Senator Jennifer Boysko of Herndon, while the identical HB 871 was carried by Delegate Mark Downey of Williamsburg.

Signed into law by Governor Abigail Spanberger, the legislation requires any person who possesses a firearm in a residence where there is a minor or a person prohibited from possessing a gun to store the firearm in a locked container, compartment, or cabinet, or to make the gun incapable of being fired with a gun-locking device.

This means you can no longer store your shotgun in a glassdoor gun case as many of us do. They must be locked away or disabled even if they are unloaded, Stuart noted in an email to constituents.

Stuart agreed that if you use the right example, this legislation can be made to sound like simple common sense. “But think about how broad and unreasonable that really is for rural communities like ours,” he added.

He provided the example of a parent hunting with a teenager and coming home to make lunch, setting an unloaded shotgun by the front door.

“At that point, according to this new law, you could potentially be charged with a criminal offense,” Stuart said. He pointed out that no one was hurt, reckless, or mishandled the firearm. The prohibited person didn’t even touch it. But it is a crime because, for a brief stretch between the hunting stand and the kitchen table, your shotgun was not locked in a safe while your teenager was under the same roof.

Although the legislation was originally introduced as a Class 4 misdemeanor, where violations would have carried a maximum $250 fine and no jail time, the legislation changed during its journey through the General Assembly. The version Spanberger signed makes violations a Class 2 misdemeanor with a fine up to $1,000 and up to six months in jail.

The bill also requires firearm dealers to post a written notice informing the public of the penalty imposed for failure to comply with the law, which takes effect July 1.

In December, Boysko noted this is her fourth year carrying gun storage legislation, which was vetoed twice by Governor Glenn Youngkin.

“Every child deserves a safe home. Strengthening safe gun storage laws in Virginia isn’t just common sense. It’s life-saving public health policy,” said Boysko.

“Too many Virginia families have felt the heartbreak of preventable gun injuries. Safe gun storage should be our first line of defense,” she added.

After the legislation passed, Boysko thanked “the stakeholders” on Facebook, citing “the many years we’ve worked in this life-saving policy.” She tagged groups such as Brady: United Against Gun Violence, Giffords, Everytown for Gun Safety, and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. “For years, the will of the people was silenced by a Governor’s pen,” said Mike Fox, a volunteer with the Virginia chapter of Moms Demand Action in a press release about this year’s “landmark slate of gun safety bills,” including the storage law.

“Today, thanks to gun sense lawmakers, including our very own Moms Demand Action volunteers, the voices of survivors, parents, and students across the Commonwealth have finally prevailed,” he said.

Moms Demand Action claims Spanberger and Downey are former volunteers for the organization.

Stuart, like other critics of the law, noted Virginia Code already makes it a crime to recklessly leave a loaded, unsecured firearm in a manner that endangers a child. Stuart argues this law “isn’t public safety.” That it’s “an attack on our rural way of life, and in my opinion, an unlawful infringement on our 2nd Amendment rights.”