Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger participated in a rally with the gun safety advocate group Moms Demand Action Wednesday morning.
“I’m a mother of three girls in Virginia Public Schools,” Spanberger said to the crowd. “I’m also a former federal agent who carried a gun every single day for my job. So I come at this issue as someone who cares deeply about the safety of our kids and as someone who understands the responsibilities of owning and of carrying a firearm.”
Spanberger worked as a postal inspector prior to her time in the C.I.A.
She talked about the importance of advocacy on issues and specifically referenced about Lucia’s Law, which was enacted during the 2024 session.
“Here in Virginia, we have seen progress,” Spanberger said. “During the last session, we saw a bipartisan process here at the Virginia Capitol. So, thank you for your advocacy. Thank you to everyone who pushed for Lucia’s Law. That is the law that was moved forward here in the Commonwealth of Virginia because a family, the Bremer family, turned their pain and their loss of their beautiful young daughter into advocacy.”
13-year-old Lucia Bremer was shot and killed randomly while walking home from school in Henrico in 2021.
14-year-old Dylan Williams used a gun that belonged to an adult in his household. He had multiple documented mental health problems, “homicidal ideations,” and a history of both violent threats and acts.
Lucia’s Law, which was passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin last year, holds the adults in a household accountable if a child in that situation accesses their weapon.
Williams was tried as an adult and sentenced to 60 years in prison.
Spanberger said Wednesday that there is still more that Virginia can do on gun safety.
“There is more that we can do to keep our kids safe, to keep our law enforcement officers safe, to keep our communities safe,” she said.
She wants to strengthen Virginia’s safe storage laws, crack down on ghost guns and prevent the sale of high-capacity magazines.
“When I was a federal agent, I carried a firearm every day, and our magazines were marked for law enforcement use only because we had, at that time in federal law, capacity limits on magazines,” Spanberger said. “When high capacity magazines are used in a shooting, the fatality and the lethality of that shooting is greater. It’s just the basic math of it.”
While pointing out that Gov. Glenn Youngkin has vetoed several pieces of gun violence prevention legislation during his term, Spanberger said she will sign common sense legislation into law.
“I will say this, as the governor of this great commonwealth, I will sign common-sense gun violence prevention legislation into law,” she said to cheers from the crowd.
With no other candidates in the race currently, Spanberger is running for governor against Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears, who is an advocate for guns.
During her campaign for lieutenant governor, Sears advertised her candidacy with a poster of her holding an assault-style rifle.
If no other candidates jump into the race to cause a primary, Sears and Spanberger will face off in November.