NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Newport News Police Department announced that 757 illegal firearms have been taken off the streets!
That number is based off the latest data as of November 18.
The department emphasizes that this is a 33% increase in illegal firearms being taken off the streets from the same time last year.
Newport News police say they are committed to keeping the city safe.
GLOUCESTER Co., Va. -- More than 300 signatures were received on a petition in favor of making Gloucester County a Second Amendment sanctuary county.
The petition was started by Shawn Coyne, a local county resident. He said the petition is a response to Gov. Ralph Northam's gun law proposals he unveiled last summer.
"These are the people that are going to be affected if these laws go into effect," Coyne said.
Northam's proposal included eight different measures that are expected to be up for discussion in the 2020 General Assembly.
"I am confident the legislature will come to Richmond in January and discuss these pieces of legislation," Northam said in a visit to Norfolk on Nov. 13. "There may be others as well that are added to that and we will finally have some laws that will make Virginia safer."
The petition said it hopes to "to protect the second amendment rights of the residents of Gloucester County." The petition also references Carroll County, Virginia, which also adopted a measure to make itself a sanctuary county earlier this year.
Coyne said the Second Amendment, while not only a constitutional right, is vital to rural communities.
"For me, it gives me the right to protect my family, to protect my home and my property," Coyne said. "I’m not a hunter, which is kind of rare for Gloucester.”
Coyne added he does not lean left or right on the political spectrum. He added he does agree with Northam's proposal on background checks.
"I am not against background checks personally," Coyne said. "All my firearms were obtained legally. Everything I purchased went through an FFL to purchase."
The Second Amendment sanctuary topic is also set to be discussed on the local government level. The Gloucester Board of Supervisors will discuss this during its Tuesday night board meeting, according to the agenda.
"I'm very pleased to see our supervisors considering the motion," Coyne said. "I think we've gotten a pretty fair response from them thus far."
The meeting is set for Tuesday, Dec. 3 at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will take place inside the Colonial Courthouse located at 6504 Main Street in Gloucester. Coyne said he will submit his petition to the board that morning.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Police in Newport News were engaged in a tactical situation near the 12000 block of Warwick Boulevard after a 53-year-old man barricaded himself in an empty warehouse on Thanksgiving day.
Traffic in both directions on Warwick Boulevard between Turlington Road and City Center Boulevard was impacted, but traffic was flowing as of 12 p.m. on Thursday.
The staging area for the tactical situation was at First Baptist Church in Warwick Boulevard.
Police said this all started as a fight between two people who work together but their jobs were not specified.
Darrell Roberts is accused of showing a gun to others in the fight then running into the warehouse, refusing to come out.
Roberts has been as arrested on an outstanding warrant. Other charges are pending, polcie said.
No one was hurt in this situation.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing AttachmentHigh school students in states that require universal background checks on all prospective gun buyers are less likely to carry guns compared to students in states that require background checks only on sales through federally licensed firearms dealers, according to a study published Monday in the medical journal Pediatrics.
On average, 5.8% of nearly 180,000 students who responded to the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey reported carrying a gun during the study period. The study did not account for adolescents who were not enrolled in school.
Researchers from Indiana University studied the survey data to determine if the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) had an effect on adolescent gun carrying, taking into consideration differences in state laws. The laws examined do not directly apply to adolescents.
About 17% of respondents who carried guns were from states with a universal background check (UBC) law at point-of-sale, whereas 83% were from states that did not have such laws.
“We’ve found that extending background checks is important to address the problem, but generally it involves more than just background check requirements,” said Dr. Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, who was not involved in the new research. “We find that licensing laws have a much bigger effect on legal access and use.”
NICS in combination with universal background checks was found to reduce youth gun carrying by 25%, whereas NICS by itself did not. However, state laws requiring UBCs had no effect on adolescent gun carrying until after the NICS was implemented.
NICS, launched in 1998, is used to determine — through national databases — whether prospective buyers are eligible to purchase firearms. The study argues that one shortcoming of NICS is that it applies to licensed gun dealers but not to unlicensed private gun sellers, which generates a loophole in the law.
As a result, gun buyers denied by licensed sellers may purchase through private sellers, rendering NICS less effective in reducing sales to ineligible buyers, including adolescents.
Universal background checks are implemented by requiring licensed gun sellers, in addition to private sellers, to conduct background checks through NICS on all prospective buyers — closing the private seller “loophole.”
Although restricted by age in purchasing guns, adolescents can still obtain guns through straw purchases — someone purchasing on behalf of another person, or directly through unlicensed or illegal gun dealers. They may also have access to guns owned by family members or friends.
Youth access to guns increases the risk of firearm injuries to their peers and to themselves, and also increases public health care spending. About 86% of homicide victims ages 10 to 24 are killed by firearms, according to a 2016 report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The new study noted earlier findings that said 43% of youth suicides involve firearms and 44% of firearm injury costs are generated by people ages 15 to 24, suggesting that current policies to prevent gun sales to minors may be ineffective at reducing adolescent firearm access.
Most high school students who reported carrying a gun to school were older teens, male and white.
Regarding the racial differences, Webster said white students may carry guns for different reasons, including sports shooting and hunting.
“I worry a little bit about whether the part of the racial effects or differences that are reported here have something to do with a culture of sports shooting more for whites than for blacks or other non-whites,” Webster said.
Of the students who reported carrying guns, 28% said they were threatened or injured by someone with a weapon such as a gun, knife or club on school property. However, experiences outside of school such as bullying, anxiety around mass shootings and other factors that could influence youth carrying were not accounted for.
“Their weapon-carrying practices have far more to do with what’s going on outside of school than what’s going on inside,” so the survey data aren’t an “ideal control for how risky the environment was for them,” Webster said.
It’s possible that adolescents may be more likely to purchase from private sellers if they do not meet the minimum age requirements. Requiring all gun sales to be made through licensed dealers who either require a background check or a gun permit issued only after a background check could deter purchases by adolescents, the study said.
Adolescents also obtain firearms from their own homes, purchased legally by adults who may not always secure the weapons.
The study did not examine all possible reasons for students carrying guns, such as for school sports.
Webster said the study is “a signal and a reminder” for pediatricians to talk to parents of youth about how unsafe gun storage can be risky for their teen.
A shooter injured 10 people early Sunday on Canal Street, on the edge of New Orleans’ French Quarter, and a person has been detained though not charged, police said.
The victims are being treated at local hospitals. Two of the victims are in critical condition, the New Orleans Police Department said.
The critical patients suffered gunshots to the torso, Chief Shaun Ferguson told reporters. No officers are among the injured, he said.
“An individual was detained near the scene,” police said, but her or his possible involvement in the shooting is under investigation.
No arrests had been made as of about 12:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. ET), according to police.
Police received a call reporting a disturbance at 3:21 a.m. When officers arrived on the scene, they could hear gunshots and found victims immediately, NOPD spokesman Aaron Looney said.
There were so many people in the area that the officers were not able to determine who fired the shots, Ferguson said.
“We had officers right there within that very block that actually thought that they were being fired upon and took a position to respond to this,” the chief said.
It’s early in the investigation, and it isn’t clear what sparked the gunfire, he said.
The shooting address provided by police is a brief walk from the popular Bourbon Street, where tourists are known to congregate.
Paramedics and state and federal police also responded to the scene.
A witness who wished to remain anonymous told CNN he was on Canal Street across the street and on the same block where the shooting happened.
He heard a verbal altercation and “at least” five or six gunshots, and he saw sparks, but because of the crowd he could not see where the shots came from. People ran from that location, some toward the waterfront, and were in such a panic that they were tripping and falling on each other.
The Bayou Classic was played Saturday night at the Superdome, about a mile away. The rivalry game is played annually between Grambling State University and Southern University.
(Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring has responded to the trend of Virginia counties passing Second Amendment sanctuary resolutions ahead of next year’s General Assembly, saying they are being “ginned up by the gun lobby” and that any new gun laws passed will be enforced.
Following the November’s election, which saw Democrats take control of both the state House and Senate, the expectation is lawmakers will pass a number of gun control measures in 2020 for Democratic Governor Ralph Northam to sign.
Northam has said that Democrats would start with the legislation he introduced for a special session on gun control this past summer. Republicans, who held the majority at the time, ended the session after 90 minutes.
In response to this expectation, Republican-leaning counties around Virginia have passed resolutions declaring themselves to be Second Amendment sanctuaries and voiced opposition to any future laws that may infringe upon Second Amendment rights.
Last week, Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun rights group, told CBS 6 in a statement that the “flood of Second Amendment sanctuary localities across the state, and the massive crowds at those government meetings, is sending a message to the General Assembly that Virginia does not need any more unconstitutional gun control.”
Speaking to CBS 6 on Wednesday, Herring said when the General Assembly passes gun control legislation those laws will be enforced.
“The resolutions that are being passed are being ginned up by the gun lobby to try to scare people. What we’re talking about here are laws that will make our communities and our streets safer. We’re talking about universal background checks, finally, maybe, Virginia will pass universal background checks to make sure that people who are dangerous, who are criminals and who aren’t permitted to buy guns, won’t be able to buy guns,” said Herring. “So, when Virginia passes these gun safety laws that they will be followed, they will be enforced.”
At least one Democratic lawmaker, Del. Jay Jones (D – 89th) has said he wanted a formal opinion from Herring on the issue of Second Amendment sanctuary resolutions. In a tweet, Jones posted a letter addressed to Herring calling the issue a “flashpoint across our state”.
On Wednesday, when he spoke to CBS 6, Herring said his office had not officially received Del. Jones’ request, but would respond when they do.
“We’ll get it when it comes in. We’ll take a look at it and we’ll make an appropriate response,” added Herring.
SUFFOLK, Va. - “He said, ‘I will kill you!’ and I turned around and started swinging,” said Heather McNichols.
That’s how McNichols ended up in a hand brace.
“My wrist is pretty sprained all the way up, along with my ankle, and there is a huge abrasion on it,” she adds.
This happened Tuesday night around 11 p.m. She was walking towards her front door when she heard someone walking behind her.
“I actually turned around when whoever - with his gun - came up behind me, and I looked at him like, ‘Are you for real?’”
Suffolk Police say two young men robbed her at her home off Island Park Circle.
“They pushed my face up against the door,” she adds.
That’s when she threw her leftover enchiladas on one of the men.
“It was in my hand, so I shoved it in his face because it had hot sauce in it.”
The men got away with her purse.
Police believe the same group approached another man about 10 minutes earlier.
They say it happened near Respass Beach Road in the Burbage Grant area of the city. The man’s father tells News 3 his son was walking home from work when two men with guns demanded him to hand over his belongings.
Neighbors say this area is usually safe.
“It’s disturbing because this is actually a quiet neighborhood,” said Nadine O’Brien.
Police say the group was seen by both victims driving off in a light-colored sedan.
Heather tells News 3 she’s glad fought the men off and kept them away from going in her home near her kids.
“You don’t mess with mama bears! You can’t 'cause they will do whatever it takes.”
RICHMOND, Va. - State officials and U.S. hate-monitoring groups were warning about the potential for violence ahead of a gun-rights rally in Virginia that brought an estimated 22,000 people to Richmond Monday.
Richmond streets saw an even larger crowd than the Virginia Capitol rally. Officials estimate there were about 6,000 people at the Capitol and 16,000 outside the gates. There, a lot of gun rights advocates showed their support by openly carrying firearms. The crowd was passionate but largely peaceful.
News 3 talked to a Virginia Beach gun owner who said he hopes the crowd size sends a message to state lawmakers that a lot of people will fight back against gun control.
“Our rights are pretty sacred to us and we’ve fought for them as long as we’ve been a country. If we don’t come out and defend them now, we could lose them," Jimmy Frost said.
Citing credible threats of violence, Gov. Ralph Northam previously declared a temporary state of emergency days ahead of Monday’s rally, banning all weapons including guns from Capitol Square.
Northam’s emergency order banned weapons of all kinds, including firearms, from the Capitol grounds starting Friday because of potential violence during the gun rights rally.
Click here for full coverage of the Richmond gun-rights rally on Lobby Day
Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing Attachment Missing AttachmentA gun rights groups tried to overturn the ban, saying Northam doesn't have the authority to implement it, but a judge disagreed.
Locally, busloads of people from Hampton Roads attended the rally. Among them was Frost. He planed to respect the ban. "My goal is to just go up and use the first amendment to defend the Second Amendment. If I have to go up there unarmed to do it, then I have no problem with that," Frost told News 3.
The Southern Poverty Law Center said that threats of violence have been “rampant” online among anti-government and far-right groups.
Militia groups and white supremacists were among those expected to mix with gun-rights activists, raising fears that the state could again see the type violence that exploded in Charlottesville in 2017.
Observers said thousands of activists were already on site two hours before the rally was set to begin at 11 a.m.
PORTSMOUTH, Va. - A woman feared for her life after she was held at gunpoint, pistol whipped and robbed in broad daylight.
It happened in the Olde Towne section of Portsmouth on Saturday morning.
The victim's stitches
The woman didn't want to give her name, but she told News 3 she was with her dog in her backyard off of Green Street around 9:30 a.m.
She said a man appeared out of nowhere and started attacking her, but she fought back. Once she started fighting back, she said he pulled out a gun and pistol-whipped her across the head.
"I didn't have time to think - it was just, 'React.' Afterwards, I was just shook up, like, I couldn't believe it just happened," she said.
At one point, he even threatened to shoot her, she said.
The man ultimately took off with her purse, which had her wallet and all of her identification. She also had, "some cash in there, [my] Gucci sunglasses, [I had] a Louis Vuitton wallet that was a gift."
She later had to go to the hospital to get stitches where she was hit with the barrel of the gun.
She worries that as of late, women are being targeted and assaulted because, "[we're] easy prey, you know, especially for a man. How much a fight can we put up?"
However, she does offer some advice, saying people need to be aware of their surroundings all the time - even on their own property.
If you know anything about what happened, you can leave an anonymous tip at the Crime Line:
Democrats in the Virginia House are advancing a package of gun-control measures they said are needed to improve public safety.
The new Democratic majority in the House voted Wednesday to advance a package of gun measures over vocal opposition from Republicans, who said the measures infringe on law-abiding gun owners’ rights.
The bills include limiting handgun purchases to once a month; universal background checks on gun purchases; allowing localities to ban guns in certain areas; and a red flag bill that would allow authorities to temporarily take guns away from anyone deemed to be dangerous to themselves or others.
