Virginia Democratic gubernatorial nominee,Terry McAuliffe, was endorsed by Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms, a Republican. Sessoms is the sixth Virginia mayor to endorse McAuliffe within the Hampton Roads region of the commonwealth. The other five are Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim, Hampton Mayor Molly Ward, Newport News Mayor McKinley Price, Portsmouth Mayor Kenny Wright, and Suffolk Mayor Linda Johnson.
Three of those mayors, Sessoms, Fraim and Price, are all members of Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s gun control coalition Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Other Virginia mayors who are part of MAIG and are supporting McAuliffe are Alexandria Mayor William Euille and Petersburg Mayor Brian A. Moore, and Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones. In total, at least 7 of the 12 Virginia mayors who are part of MAIG, are reported to be supporting McAuliffe’s run for office.
McAuliffe, a supporter of the Assault Weapons Ban, has been intentionally quiet about his gun control views. Politico reported in early September that McAulife met with Bloomberg but neither wanted to acknowledge the meeting happened. McAuliffe previously avoided talking about the Assault Weapons Ban in early August, but told Breitbart News:
What I said in Virginia, what we ought to do–and I’m a strong supporter of the second amendment–I’m a gun owner. I take two of my sons hunting and skeet shooting. I think there are reasonable things we can do.
I think that anyone that purchases a gun should have a background check. I’ve gone through it myself. It’s a very simple process. It only takes a couple of minutes to do it. There are certain people that should not own guns and with all the issues we’ve had, and the comparison of Newtown and Aurora, and gun violence going down–that’s not the issue. I think I speak for every Virginia parent, when you drive your child off to school, you want to know that your child is going to be safe. And I think a practical, mainstream idea is that anyone who purchases a gun should go through a background check. I think that’s reasonable. That’s my opinion.
In the wake of the Washington Navy Yard massacre President Barack Obama’s Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters on Monday the president will be implementing executive actions.
“The president supports, as do an overwhelming majority of Americans, common-sense measures to reduce gun violence,” Carney told reporters.
In reaction to the shooting at the Navy Yard, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) released a statement on Monday calling for further gun control measures that failed to pass in April.
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