During a news conference, Mayor Levar Stoney announces his intent to introduce ordinances to penalize distracted driving related to handheld devices, and to require the reporting of lost or stolen firearms to the Richmond Police Department within 24 hours. (Photo by Rodrigo Arriaza)
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney announced plans to introduce two ordinances that take aim at gun violence and distracted driving during a news conference Wednesday morning. Stoney will present both ordinances to City Council at its Monday work session, he said.
The mayor began his remarks by offering his condolences to the family of Alice E. Woodson, a 32-year-old woman who died Tuesday night after being stuck by a GRTC Pulse bus while crossing West Broad Street about a block from Virginia Commonwealth University's Siegel Center. Police said that Woodson appeared to have walked into the bus-only lane.
The first of Stoney's two proposed ordinances would require lost or stolen firearms to be reported to the Richmond Police Department within 24 hours under threat of a civil penalty. The measure would immediately take effect if approved by the council, according to a city news release.
If approved, the new law would curb the growth of the illegal gun market, Stoney said. So far this year, 354 firearms have been reported stolen in the city, he said, though many more go unreported.
“We continue to seize firearms that have never been reported stolen during involvement in illegal activity or involvement in criminal possession, and it’s those guns that we really need to address,” Richmond Police Chief William Smith said at the news conference.
The move follows Stoney's introduction of legislation to bar guns from all city buildings and parks in June during the lead-up to a special session of the General Assembly focused on gun control. Though it was approved by City Council, that measure stalled when the General Assembly's special session ended after just 90 minutes without considering a single bill.
“The majority party in the Virginia General Assembly has been silent when it comes to gun violence reform, and I’m not going to wait any longer to protect our residents," Stoney said.
While that proposed legislation would have required the General Assembly's approval to become law, Stoney said the city has the authority to enact Wednesday's gun safety measure because of the police powers provision in the state code.
Kristin DuMont, spokeswoman for the local chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said she thinks the proposed law would play a role in reducing gun violence as well as the export of stolen guns across state lines.
"We obviously want to reduce illegal gun trafficking, and we also want to empower and equip local law enforcement to be able to recover these stolen guns before they are used in a crime, so we are really grateful to the mayor’s office and to the Richmond Police Department for promoting this new ordinance," she said.
However, Philip Van Cleave, president of pro-gun advocacy group Virginia Citizens Defense League, said he isn't convinced that the city police department would effectively be able to enforce the 24-hour time limit associated with the ordinance.
"This appears to be more virtue [signalling] by the mayor than anything that will actually do much to reduce crime," he wrote in an email.
At the same news conference, Stoney also said he plans to present an ordinance at Monday's City Council meeting that would penalize drivers found to be distracted by a smartphone or other handheld devices while behind the wheel.
Under the ordinance, motorists would be fined $125 for their first offense, and $250 for any subsequent offenses. If approved, the law would take effect after a six-month educational period.
Phone use while driving resulted in 73 distracted driving crashes last year, he said, though the actual number is estimated to be much higher due to underreporting. Stoney clarified that while a driver can't be pulled over just for using a handheld device, officers would ticket drivers if they see evidence of distracted driving, such as speeding, swerving or running a stop sign.
