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Norfolk — After months of stumbling, gun rights advocates in Norfolk have finally amassed enough signatures to force the City Council to hold hearings on their request for the city to keep allowing guns in city-owned buildings.
Called the Norfolk Second Amendment Preservation Coalition, the group gathered more than 2,600 petition signatures on Election Day, forcing the city’s hand and mandating a public discussion.
Given the political makeup of the council and what members have said about gun laws, the push is nearly certain to fail. Assuming that happens, advocates will try to gather more signatures to put the issue before voters through a ballot referendum, though it’s not clear when that would happen.
Even if it makes it on the ballot — advocates would need 4,000 signatures for that — the proposal would seem to be a long shot in a heavily Democratic city where supporters of gun control typically win elections by huge margins.
The issue arose early this year after the new Democratic majority in the General Assembly gave cities the power to ban guns in their own buildings.
The first public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday night’s virtual council meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. The second is set for the council meeting on Dec. 8. Speakers will need to sign up with the clerk’s office by 3 p.m. on the day of the hearing.
The move follows several months of petition efforts that started in January but failed to garner enough signatures this spring.
The effort in Norfolk was originally part of a statewide push to ask localities to declare themselves “Second Amendment Sanctuary” cities and counties. That effort swept across Virginia late in 2019 and early in 2020, after Democrats had won control of the state legislature during the 2019 election.
Public meetings across the state were packed with gun rights supporters, and the majority of localities in Virginia adopted some version of the resolution. Some — including Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Portsmouth — opted for watered-down language, dubbing themselves “Second Amendment constitutional cities” rather than “sanctuary cities.” Neither the terms themselves nor the declarations have any real legal meaning.
The wave of public gun support was meant to ward off Democratic efforts to pass statewide gun control legislation, but it didn’t work. The General Assembly passed several measures which were signed into law, including the right of local governments to outlaw guns in public buildings or at city events.
Norfolk’s Second Amendment committee, helmed by city Republican Party chairman Bob Brown, has taken aim at that provision specifically. Basically, Brown said, they’re asking the city not to ban guns in public buildings or at public events.
The group’s proposal also says if the city ever does restrict guns, it should waive legal protections that would prevent potential victims of violence — who they say would be prevented from defending themselves due to the restrictions — from suing the city.
“If you want to declare gun-free zones, waive sovereign immunity,” Brown said, referencing the legal protection in question.
Norfolk’s City Council has repeatedly refused to consider such a resolution, despite pleas from dozens of advocates at multiple meetings. The largely liberal council had been among those cities requesting the state give it wider latitude in policing guns on public property ahead of the 2020 General Assembly session and, after the state gave cities the option, a measure to ban guns in Norfolk’s buildings and parks popped up on the council’s agenda in August.
However, it was hastily removed and a vote on it delayed because of concerns with the legal language, which some opponents said could outlaw carrying guns on city streets.
Norfolk City Attorney Bernard Pishko said the language was intended to refer to times when city streets and sidewalks are in use for city-permitted events like festivals or parades, but that they would revise and revisit the ordinance later. It has not yet returned to the City Council for a discussion.
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Ultimately, Brown said, he doesn’t think the City Council will do what he and his group are asking because of their political affiliations. Many council members are actively involved with the Democratic Party, though they technically run for city offices without party affiliation.
Brown’s next step: another petition, this time to put the issue on the ballot for city voters.
“It’s my complete intention to move this forward to referendum,” Brown said. “My position is to let the citizens decide. It’s too important a decision to leave to (eight) people.”
Want to watch — or comment?
Tuesday’s Norfolk City Council meeting starts at 4 p.m. The voting session, which will include the gun hearing, begins at 6 p.m. You can watch on Norfolk TV-48 on Cox or on norfolk.gov.
If you want to send in a written comment, email ccouncil@norfolk.gov ahead of time and the clerk will note your email for the record.
If you want to talk to the council live, either by phone or videoconference, email ccouncil@norfolk.gov or call 757-664-4253 and leave your callback number and what agenda item you want to talk about. Someone from the clerk’s office will call you when it’s your turn, and you’ll have up to three minutes to address the council.
Ryan Murphy, 757-739-8582, ryan.murphy@pilotonline.com