“Cowards” - Brady Condemns Leadership’s Refusal to Take Action During Virginia Special Session

Washington, D.C., July 9, 2019 — Today, the long-awaited Virginia General Assembly special session came to a swift and early end when the House of Delegates and Senate both adjourned until November without bringing a single meaningful piece of legislation to the floor for a vote. Brady, which brought in several buses of supporters for today’s session, sharply criticized Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment and House of Delegates Speaker Kirk Cox for refusing to take action, and vowed to elect a new legislature this November committed to ending gun violence.

Brady president and Virginia resident Kris Brown, who witnessed the special session in Richmond in person today, stated,

“Today, Tommy Norment and Kirk Cox revealed themselves as nothing short of cowards. They refused to take even the smallest actions that would honor the victims of the Virginia Beach shooting, not to mention the victims of gun violence in Virginia every single day. Even if the Assembly committees recommend any bills, Norment and Cox have made clear that they won’t take any action until after Election Day. But if these ‘leaders’ won’t enact solutions that their own constituents are demanding, then we’re going to fight tooth and nail for representatives who will. There are 119 days between now and Election Day, and we are going to work every single one of them to ensure that the next time these votes come around, we’re going to see real and meaningful action instead of this shameful nonsense.”

This May, Brady endorsed Sen. Dick Saslaw (SD-35), Dan Helmer (HD-40), and Sheila Bynum-Coleman (HD-66) in this November’s Virginia elections. Further endorsements, which will be heavily influenced by the special session, will be announced in the near future.